Twisted Little Heart
by NeonHorizon
Summary: Giran's assistant. She adamantly insists that she isn't a fan girl. She's just really excited to meet Shigaraki. So when Giran finally agrees to introduce her to him, she can hardly contain her excitement. She isn't a fan girl. She really isn't. She just loves everything about villains and being a villain. Rated M for gore and language. Meant to be a dark rom-com.
1. Chapter 1

NeonHorizon: I can't believe the number of puns I inadvertently had Giran make in this chapter. All puns regarding Kugutsu's name and quirk. Just bizarre. Anyway, I wrote Gray Area, but it got so splintered that I decided I wanted a new story centered on Shigaraki so here's a dark rom-com featuring one of my favorite anime villains ever. Reviews are welcome.

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"I want to meet him."

The man paused in counting some money and lifted his gaze, eyes instantly narrowing. He quirked an eyebrow and a lazy sort of smile stretched his mouth. "What are you going on about now?"

"I want to meet him," she repeated. The young woman planted her hands on the desk's surface, her manicured nails shining obsidian in the light. "So…introduce me, Giran-san."

"You don't really want to meet him. Trust me. You're better off just staying in the shadows for now, Kugutsu-chan." Giran shook his head, chuckling as he saw her tap her nails against his desk. "Why do you want to meet him so badly? Do you have a little _crush_?"

She bristled at this and curled her hands into fists. "I…don't get crushes," she muttered. "_You_ meet with him. So why shouldn't _I_?"

"Because it's not necessary. Look, kid, you're my trump card. You know how this works. I throw you into the ring when things start to look bad for me. That's just what assistants do for their bosses."

The young woman crossed her arms and frowned. _But, technically, your boss is my boss. So why shouldn't I get to meet him?_

The man had resumed counting yen notes, but he could feel her icy glare directed at him. His assistant usually had a pretty even temper. She helped him with a large variety of tasks, kept quiet about what they did, and she was efficient. She rarely showed this much emotion and it was honestly a little perplexing.

"You really want to meet him that badly, Kugutsu-chan?"

She gave a small nod. "If I'm your assistant…I need to have the same connections that you have," she pointed out.

Giran held up his hands in resignation. "Fine, fine. I'm meeting with him tonight. Why don't you go _doll_ yourself up before we go? You want to impress him, right?"

To her absolute outrage, she felt her face starting to burn. "That is…not at all what this is about and you know it," she hissed.

"Really, it's so weird to see you get this animated about something that isn't games or gore. It's almost like you're a different person." Giran pushed up his small, round glasses and flashed a smirk. "You're almost like a _normal girl_."

That was the final straw for her. She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, hands jammed into her coat pockets. _Why does he feel the need to pick on me? I told him that this isn't about a crush. How could I have a crush on someone I've never met?_

She was determined to put no effort into her appearance and dressed as she normally did. A pair of tight fitting black pants, a button-up lavender shirt, and her favorite black choker. She left her shoulder-length black hair scruffy and sticking up at strange angles in some places. The only time she really brushed her hair was when she had to play a part for Giran. Whether it was to collect information or to get items for him, she always went all out for her "boss".

The young woman's expectations were rather low from the start. Really, she just wanted to see this man in the flesh. All for One's protégé. His champion. A man around her age with an impossibly dark backstory that made hers look like a bedtime story in comparison.

_I shouldn't have built him up with all of that just now._ She ruffled her dark hair as she walked beside Giran down an alley, ignoring the way he chuckled. "What was his name?"

"We're meeting with Shigaraki Tomura and Kurogiri. The one that's making your fragile little girl's heart skip a beat is Shigaraki."

"…_you_ have a little heart…" she muttered in retort.

"Oh to be young and in love. What's it like, Kugutsu-chan? You feeling starry-eyed? Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses?"

"I haven't even met him."

They approached the mah-jongg bar and Giran paused, running his fingers through his hair. "Damn. Probably should've brought a gift or something. That'd put him in a good mood, huh?"

"Giran-san?" She saw him frowning and raised an eyebrow. _Does he…actually look worried?_ It was rare for her "boss" to look unsettled, but when he did, he usually called on her to defend him. The young woman cracked her knuckles, mirroring his frown. "What is it?"

"Stop doing that; it's not ladylike." He stepped in ahead of her, calling a greeting as he went.

She hesitated in the doorway, suddenly very unsure of herself. Nervously wiping her sweating palms onto her pants, she took a deep breath. _What is there to be nervous about? I wanted to meet him so I can have the same connections as Giran-san. This is business._

"Who is that, lingering near the door?" a low, male voice demanded.

"That would be my assistant. I don't know why she's just lurking in the shadows back there. Kugutsu-chan, why don't you come introduce yourself? You were so eager to meet Shigaraki."

At this, she flushed pink and grimaced. Entering the room like a child being forced to attend a family gathering by their strict parent, the young woman looked to the two strangers. A man that resembled a living shadow was behind the counter and polishing a glass. He was dressed rather formally and his face bore no features except for his narrowed yellow eyes.

Her gaze shifted to the other stranger and her breathing hitched. Giran had not prepared her adequately for this. Shigaraki was around her age, but he was not quite the monster she had been picturing. In fact, he looked a bit weak. Wearing a black t-shirt and sweatpants, he looked more like a NEET than a villain. His pale blue hair was shaggy in appearance, similar to hers, and she had the feeling he brushed it as often as she brushed her own hair.

Bandages were showing on his arms where the sleeves failed to cover his skin and it was then that she remembered the USJ incident. He had been shot in all four limbs by a hero on that day. The young man met her stare from behind curling locks of hair and he scratched his neck anxiously. "Why did you bring your assistant? I didn't even know you had one. Why would I be interested in-?"

"Kugutsu Kurayami, sir." She bowed lowly and tried to settle the blush on her cheeks. "I…actually really wanted to meet you." When she rose from her bow, she caught sight of the man's malevolent smirk and her heart began to pound.

"You wanted to meet me? Why's that?" It almost sounded like he was taunting her.

Before she could speak again, Giran shook his head and pushed up his glasses. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid Kugutsu-chan has a little crush. You know how women get."

_What do you think you're doing?_ The young woman bristled and this time, her pointed feline ears flattened against her head in anger. She rarely showed emotion while doing business. She rarely displayed any sort of outrage in front of Giran because it was deemed unprofessional. Now, she felt that she could tear out his intestines and hang him from the ceiling by them.

**Shift P.O.V**

_A crush?_ Studying Giran's assistant, he felt a rush of giddiness bubble up. Never in his life had someone said that they had a crush on him. With the poor quality of his skin and his line of work, it just did not make sense for a girl to fall for him. However, this one seemed to be a bit "off".

Scruffy black hair, hanging to her shoulders. A smattering of freckles across her cheekbones. Eyes that were a sharp yellow color like a cat's. This made him look up to the pointed, feline ears atop her head. They had flattened when Giran spoke, but he could see them swivel now to perk forward.

"Are you some kind of villain groupie or something?" he muttered. He knew they existed. They were the same as the girls that sent love letters to serial killers. Kurogiri had once explained that they liked the danger, but would probably recoil if they ever met those men in real life.

"I'm…not a groupie," she protested. Her voice was soft, but kind of low, with a melodic quality to it.

"So why did you want to meet me so badly? Was it just…some kind of morbid curiosity?" Shigaraki got off of his bar stool, ignoring the pain from his injuries. He wanted a real answer. From her; not from Giran.

"No. I just…hear about you from Giran-san."

_Kugutsu Kurayami. That's a stupid name. I bet she doesn't even have a quirk. And what kind of slob dresses like that to meet their boss?_ This last thought stuck with him and his dry, chapped lips pulled into a smirk. "I'm your boss. Of course you wanted to meet me."

"That's right," she agreed.

Giran put a hand on the girl's back and gave her a rough push forward in Shigaraki's direction. "That's right! Kugutsu-chan, why don't you tell him why you were so excited to meet him!"

Now forced to stand about a foot away from Shigaraki, the female villain looked far less sure of herself than before. She glanced over her shoulder at Giran, who was wearing an amused half-grin. "I…I just…"

"You know what?" The man pushed up his glasses and checked the time on his phone. "I have to go run some errands. Shigaraki, it's okay if I leave her with you for a while, right? She can provide some entertainment."

"Wait…" Kugutsu turned to protest, but Giran was already leaving. Sweat beaded on the back of her neck and she hesitantly looked to the other two villains. She bowed, lower than before, and frowned. "I'm sorry about Giran-san."

Shigaraki simply stared for a moment and lifted a hand to scratch his neck. "You wanted to meet me," he reminded her, mirth leaking into his voice. "So why don't you make yourself useful and entertain me?"

Kurogiri took this opportunity to enter the conversation once more. "Giran once mentioned you to me. He said you have an interest in games."

"Games?" Shigaraki's grin returned. "Fine. I'll take you to my room and you can entertain me."


	2. Chapter 2

The atmosphere in the room was tense, the tension thick enough to make her nearly choke on it. Kugutsu's hands were sweaty, making her constantly adjust her grip on the game controller. A look to her right showed the other villain glaring intensely at the screen, his chapped lips twisted into a frown.

_This is Shigaraki. All for One's protégé. His champion. The "chosen one". He has that decay quirk that injured a pro hero in the USJ incident and he tried to take on All Might. This isn't a person to fuck with. So the big question is…should I start letting him win?_

The screen blinked with their scores, showing a large "K" to proclaim the winner. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face and she saw him begin to scratch his neck beside her. This was the third game in a row that she had won. The first match, she had forgotten who she was playing with and just played normally. After that, she had wanted to impress him.

It was a game she had at home. Something she had anticipated the release of, stood in line for, played for seventy-two hours straight after acquiring, forced Giran to play against her a few times, and ultimately used as stress relief. So of course she was good at this game. She was actually pretty good at most video games.

"Again," he finally determined. Shigaraki set it up for another match and the villain's crimson eyes shifted to look at her reflection in the screen.

Kugutsu was unsure if it was just the shape of his eyes and the wrinkled flesh around them or if he was actually becoming infuriated. Whatever the case, he looked like he wanted to bash her skull in with his controller. _I have to let him win._

This round, she used only the bare minimum of her skills in order to let Shigaraki beat her. As she watched his character's sword thrust through the chest of hers, she felt her lips twitch into a slight frown. She had been winning before, but not by a lot. Their skill levels were pretty close.

_How much gaming does he do?_ Her gaze flicked to the haphazardly stacked game cases and winced. Most of the cases were cracked or damaged in some way. Doubtless, he took out his irritation on them when he was having trouble getting through a level.

When her character's hit points reached zero, his expression changed. The irritated scowl twisted into a grin that sent a shiver down her spine. "Let's play again."

"Sure…" Kugutsu let him set it up as her mind clicked through various topics. She wanted to talk to him. After all, this was Shigaraki Tomura. The young man that Giran had told her about. Though they were not all praises, he had sounded kind of cool when her boss told her about him.

_He's right there. I should just say something. What's a good topic of conversation for villains? I usually just talk to Giran and we usually just talk about money or stuff I need to do for him._ Seeing the excitement in her new acquaintance's eyes, she swallowed her nervousness.

"Did you…see the trailer for the new RPG that was announced yesterday?"

At her side, he tensed and his grip on the controller tightened. He looked at her reflection on the screen and his eyes narrowed again. "What're you talking about? Which RPG?"

"It's new. It was in development for a few years and the release date kept getting pushed back due to bug fixes and tweaks to the boss monsters' abilities, but it's got a release date for four months from now. The graphics look really good and there's a big skill tree that you can follow after you pick your character class so you can specialize in different areas and…"

Kugutsu continued to ramble on and on about the game as she saw the anger fading from his expression. Her feline ears perked forward and she almost wanted to smile. Apparently, this game sounded more interesting to him than the game they were playing because he soon turned off the game without warning.

Moving closer beside her, he gave the young woman an expectant stare. "Show me the trailer. I want to see if it's really that cool."

When Kurogiri came to announce that Giran had returned, he found Kugutsu and Shigaraki sitting close together as they stared down at her phone screen. "Giran is back," he stated.

She snapped out of her mini-trance and Kugutsu shifted away from Shigaraki. Her heart started to pound after she realized how close together they had been sitting. "Sorry. I kind of…invaded your bubble there."

His nails dragged over his neck, leaving red lines in their wake. He seemed to study her for a moment before turning away to resume his game on one-player mode. Not even sparing her a good bye.

"He seemed to enjoy your time here," Kurogiri remarked.

Her ears flattened and she pushed her hands into her pockets, walking alongside the shadowy man back to the bar. "I suppose we have things in common," she confessed.

"It's unusual for him to have visitors. I'm sure that he would appreciate seeing you again."

_You make this sound like a matchmaking thing set up by nosey parents._ She glanced to the man walking next to her and one of her ears twitched. _Kurogiri. I've heard his name before. I'm sure Giran mentioned him at some point._

"Hey, _there's_ our little Shigaraki fan girl." Giran chuckled when he saw her face turning pink. "How'd the play date go?"

"…wasn't a play date and I'm not a fan girl…" she muttered, her tone venomous. Kugutsu stalked to the door and stood there with her head turned away, fighting back a scowl. _He keeps picking on me today. I shouldn't have said anything about wanting to meet Shigaraki. Lesson learned_.

"So, seriously, how'd it go? She's my assistant so if she messed up at all-"

"He seemed to enjoy himself. I'm sure that he would be pleased if she came to visit again," Kurogiri answered.

_Why are you wording it like that?_ She threaded her fingers into her hair and tugged gently, trying to calm herself down. Kugutsu prided herself on her ability to keep her emotions in check, yet this single visit to Shigaraki was testing her.

**Shift P.O.V**

_Kugutsu Kurayami is a stupid name._ The click of buttons and flash of images on the screen were a good distraction from the pain in his still healing limbs, but he vaguely wished that she could stay to play another round. Scratching an itch on the side of his neck, he narrowed his eyes. Dropping the controller, he listened to the faint voices in the distance.

Giran, Kurogiri, and the quieter voice of Kugutsu. He ventured out of the room, walking slowly and approaching the bar with hesitation. It was still perplexing to think that she had wanted to meet him.

_She has those stupid cat ears. And she dresses weird. What kind of person doesn't let their "boss" win in a game anyway? Useless._ He reached the door and peered into the bar.

Kugutsu was lingering near the other door, ready to leave. Giran was attempting to make a joke, but Kurogiri seemed to not grasp the punchline. Shigaraki lifted a hand to scratch his neck again, letting his nails dig in a little deeper as his gaze settled on Kugutsu.

Something seemed a bit "off". She had a hand pressed against the wall near her, upon a shadow. As he watched, the shadow seemed to shudder and twitch as if coming to life. Shigaraki blinked slowly, his scarred lips twisting in confusion. The shadow began to sway and shift now as Kugutsu released a soft, frustrated sigh.

_What's her quirk anyway? I bet it's just something stupid. Some useless little…_He saw Giran look over and the man appeared to understand that she was growing impatient. Bidding Kurogiri farewell, the other two left the bar.

Shigaraki lingered there for a moment longer until Kurogiri turned in his direction. He began the trudge back to his room, intending to return to his game. _Next time I'll beat her the first round_, he determined.

The door opened behind him and Kurogiri entered the back area. "Shigaraki Tomura, what did you think of Giran's assistant?"

He paused and glared at the man over his shoulder. "She looks like a secret character from a dating sim," he muttered, letting his irritation shine through his words. "Kugutsu Kurayami is a stupid name. It sounds like a username for a dark web account."

"She seemed to enjoy meeting you. You have a fan."

**Shift P.O.V**

"So was it everything you'd hoped it would be?" Giran lit a cigarette as they began the walk back to his office.

"…it was okay…" Kugutsu chewed at the skin around her thumbnail, trying to vent her emotions subtly. In truth, she had a lot of fun playing against Shigaraki. It was clear that he was really serious about gaming and she admired that. She was a little disappointed by the fact that he looked so weak compared to how she had imagined him, but the villain's venomous attitude made up for it.

"Did Shigaraki make your twisted little heart skip a beat?"

"Please stop."

He sighed in resignation and shrugged. "I'm sure he had a great day though."

"Hm?" She glanced over to see him smirking sheepishly.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, he's a little socially inept. The poor guy probably hasn't been that close to a girl since he was a little kid. So imagine that. Now imagine this cute fan girl shows up and plays video games with you. Sounds like a pretty good day, right, Kugutsu-chan?"

She bowed her head and chewed a little more viciously at the skin around her thumbnail. "You think he had a good day?"

"I think he had a _great_ day."

Kugutsu blinked and shook her head. "Don't call me a fan girl."

"Alright, alright. So. What do you want for dinner? I'll treat you tonight to celebrate."

She winced when he patted the top of her head and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I want yakiniku. From the good place near the office. And I want a beer." Seeing him about to argue, she frowned. "You owe me after ditching me."

"Fine. I think I could go for a drink, too." Giran smirked again. "You like him, don't you? I haven't seen you that nervous before."

"Just…don't call me a fan girl."


	3. Chapter 3

"I need you to run an errand for me."

Kugutsu paused her game and frowned at the screen. She could see Giran's reflection in it and saw that he was leaning against her doorframe with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "This is my day off," she reminded him.

"Look, I know that, but I'm kind of swamped today. Besides, it's not even that big of an errand. I just need you to make a delivery for me. You can go, get it done, and have the rest of the day to do whatever _this_ is." He entered the room and gestured at the handheld console as if he had no idea what it was.

She hunched her shoulders forward a little more, thinking it over. "What do I get out of this? It's my day off."

"How about I give you a nice bonus? Some pocket money for while you're out. Two thousand yen?"

"I won't accept less than ten thousand yen."

He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You learned a little too well from me," he remarked. "Fine. Ten thousand yen. For that much, you'd better do a good job."

She saved and quit the game, tucking it away into its case with care. Kugutsu started to look around for some clean clothes and located a half-folded button-up shirt and a wrinkled pair of black pants. _This will have to do._ She began to take off her sweatshirt and paused, realizing that Giran was still in the room. "Get out."

He waited outside of her room, digging a bunch of yen notes from his pocket and carefully counting out the ten thousand yen he had promised her. "I'm surprised you haven't asked to go with me to meet Shigaraki again," he spoke up.

She was buttoning up her shirt and froze, frowning to herself. "I'm not-"

"You know you had a good time. Come on. It was cute. Your eyes lit up when you saw him and you can't tell me you didn't have fun."

Kugutsu bowed her head and ruffled her scruffy black hair, trying to keep it away from her eyes. "I'm not cute."

"Shigaraki fan girl."

Her pulse quickened and she slammed open the door to glare at the man. Twelve thousand yen was held out to her; the ten she had requested and a bonus to keep her from losing her temper on him. As rare as it was for her to get this angry, Giran knew better than to incur her wrath.

She snatched it out of his hand, tucking it away into her pocket. "What am I delivering?"

"Food. Might want take your bag with some entertainment; you might be waiting a while for the order to be finished. I already called it in so you just have to pick it up and take it to this address that I'm sending to your phone."

The young woman saw it pop up on her phone screen and raised an eyebrow. _Why can't he just pay for a delivery person?_ She gave a simple nod and went to retrieve her messenger bag. Kugutsu shoved her gaming console inside, along with the case where she stored all of her cartridges. If nothing else, she could probably make some progress in her new RPG during the train ride to deliver the food.

The game was left untouched in her bag once she got on the train. With the bag of food beside her, she found herself scrolling through her phone. It had been almost a week since she met Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Over that span of time, she had searched "Shigaraki Tomura" online around twelve times a day.

_I'm not a fan girl_, she reminded herself as she searched yet again. _I'm not obsessed. I just want to know more. So why don't they have more information? Is he just that good at hiding himself? I'd expect as much from All for One's protégé though. He's professional level, even if he looks like a NEET._

Disappointment made her lean her head back against the window and she sighed. Kugutsu thought she was good at keeping herself composed. She could normally go days without having an outburst or showing too much emotion. Something about Shigaraki just made her lose control of herself. She was unsure if she hated it or if it came as a relief.

When she reached her stop, she grabbed the bag of food and set off for the address Giran had sent to her. _Let's see. It's not really in the best area, but it's not exactly shady. Where…? _She felt a lump forming in her throat, her pulse quickening, as she reached her destination. _No way._

The mah-jongg sign seemed to almost mock her as she stared up at it. She could practically hear Giran's laughter and the chant of the word "fan girl". Taunting her for her interest in Shigaraki. Belittling her for her show of emotion.

Trying to call Giran to demand an explanation, she found that he seemed to be ignoring her. The call was sent to voicemail, but she chose not to leave a message. She would get her revenge later, when the shadows were at their largest. It was seconds later that a message came from Giran that read: **You can thank me later. I ordered two of everything so you can keep him company.**

_Are you serious?_ Her stomach felt like it did a flip as she looked up to the mah-jongg sign again. Kugutsu found the front door locked, but the door in the alley was unlocked. Letting herself into the bar, she paused in the dark corridor and frantically ruffled her hair to try to calm herself.

_Why? Why's my heart beating this fast? I'm not obsessed! Giran, I'll get you for this! Damn it, damn it!_ A boot stomped against the floor in her fury and she froze, listening for sounds of movement elsewhere in the bar.

A door opened further down the corridor and she tensed as a figure stepped out of the room. Eyes the color of fresh blood narrowed upon her and she saw the villain bite at his lower lip. "Sorry, Shigaraki-san." She bowed lowly, hoping that it was enough. Just the sight of him made her heart skip a beat.

He was wearing the same sort of outfit as before; black t-shirt and black sweatpants. His bandages looked a little dirty, his pale blue hair was in tangles. Honestly, he looked like he had just woken up. So now she was not only facing this man that she had been obsessing over, but she had woken him up by stomping like a child throwing a tantrum.

"What are you doing here?" A hand lifted to absently scratch along his throat, leaving lines so deep that it almost made her wince.

"Giran-san sent me to deliver food." She held up the bag, heart thumping faster and faster as he stared at her. When he gave her a beckoning nod, Kugutsu was hesitant to follow. "Is…Kurogiri-san here?"

His upper lip seemed to twitch, as if he might scowl. "He went somewhere."

_So this is why Giran sent me._ Now both angry and excited, she bowed her head and weighed her options. This was her chance to spend time with Shigaraki again. She could try to talk him more and learn about him. However, the thought of giving in to what Giran had planned made her irritated.

Kugutsu saw him disappear back into his room and was given no choice. Leaving the food out in the hall would be rude. _What bad could come from going with him? I like him. No. Wait. No, no, no. I admire him? I hardly know him!_

"If you brought me food, then give it to me."

"…right…" She entered his room, carrying the bag with her, and found him sitting at a desk with a computer on it. Without even thinking about it, she began opening some takeout boxes and put them near enough for him to reach.

He waited for her to separate the disposable chopsticks for him and grimaced when he saw her just sitting there on the floor. "What're you doing? Are you one of those freaks that watches people eat?"

Realizing that he wanted her to eat with him, she decided to concede. She popped open a box of fried rice and began to eat, but Kugutsu was too nervous to really taste the food. _I'm eating with Shigaraki. How did I end up in this situation? I'm really excited, but I'm nervous. I can't really focus on what I'm eating._

He chewed, watching her devour an entire box of fried rice in a matter of about three minutes. As groggy as he still seemed, there was still a hint of puzzlement in his expression when he saw her overturn the box for the last bits of rice. "What's wrong with you anyway?"

"I'm…just weird," she answered. There was no way that she would tell him how she really felt. That her heart was racing and she found herself continuously stealing glances at him. The t-shirt was a little too loose so she had a good view of his neck and collar bones. There were scratches fading on the young man's neck, but the skin was otherwise fair and smooth-looking.

"What're you staring at?"

"…nothing…" Kugutsu set down her box and began eating some stir fry from another box, this time chewing delicately and trying to not look like an uncultured gremlin. _Just calm down. Deep breaths._ She kept her eyes lowered and scraped her chopsticks along the side of the box as she tried to get a piece of meat.

He finished eating before she did, though he only ate a little. A game was brought up on the computer screen and he began to play without saying anything to her. Shigaraki narrowed his eyes when he felt her looking at him again and scratched at his neck absently. "Kugutsu Kurayami is a stupid name."

When he broke through the silence with this remark, she frowned. "I didn't name myself."

"Well it's still a stupid name."

"When I was a kid, I had the nickname "Yami" because I hated "Kurayami"," she explained, licking a bit of sauce from her lips. "Did you have a nickname?"

There was a long moment of silence in which he simply clicked around in his game. Finally, Shigaraki paused it and glared at her. "No."

_Was that the wrong thing to ask? I didn't want to offend him. I have to think of something else to say now._ She chewed at the skin around her thumb and nodded to herself. "Giran-san…told me about your attack at UA. You were shot, but you put Eraser Head in critical condition. That's…really impressive. I admire that kind of ambition, Shigaraki-san."

His glare faded and he chewed at his lower lip. The young man's gaze fell upon her messenger bag, spotting the game console's outline. Settling on the floor in front of Kugutsu, he tapped a finger against her bag. "Show me what games you have."

"Oh. Sure thing." She drew forth her game case and watched him skim through her selection of games. When he lifted one, she told him that he could have it without even hesitating. He seemed a little puzzled by her eagerness to give it to him, but added it to his collection.

Kugutsu played co-op with him in a fighting game after her meal, biting her lip to hold back a smile. _I feel…happy. I'm so happy I can hardly stand it!_


	4. Chapter 4

NeonHorizon: I think this might be my favorite chapter so far. It was insanely fun for me to write. Reviews are welcome and encouraged, as always. Thank you to those that have left reviews _ They really make my day.

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Giran was talking, but his attention drifted away from the words and to the fact that Giran had come alone. Shigaraki's eyes narrowed behind "Father" and he could see that there was no sign of Giran's assistant. Shifting his eyes from the shadowy entrance behind the man to the man himself, Shigaraki was quickly losing interest in dealing with him.

When Kugutsu showed up the previous day with food, he had surprisingly enjoyed her company. Not that he was about to admit that to anyone. He could hardly discern that it was enjoyment anyway; he just felt less irritated when she was around. They had eaten together and then played games until she finally had to catch the last train to return to Giran.

His patience was starting to run thin and he started scratching his neck. "Where's the girl?" he finally muttered.

"Sorry, Shigaraki. Kugutsu-chan had to go take care of some business for me." Giran saw the way that he was looking at him and frowned.

"Way to be unprofessional. Is that any way to treat her boss? She could at least have the decency to come when we have a meeting. What's her problem?" he seethed. The villain settled on a seat at the bar and slouched, resting his elbows on the counter. _Why do I even care if she's here? She's just as useless as Giran if she can't even bother to be here today._

Kurogiri briefly paid attention to what Shigaraki was doing and turned toward Giran. "Will Kugutsu be done soon?"

At this, the broker began to smirk. "I can call her and ask. I'll even put her on speaker, if you want."

Shigaraki glared down at the countertop from behind "Father", but listened as Giran made the call. _She's just a low-level pawn. So why does it matter if she's here or not? This is stupid. I shouldn't care if she's here, but I want her to show up. _He chewed on his lower lip, listening to the phone ring.

"Giran-san?" Her voice came through clearly, making Shigaraki turn to look.

The broker pushed up his glasses and looked rather smug. "Hey, Kugutsu-chan. How'd the negotiation go?"

There was a pause, a loud grunt of pain, a splattering sound. A loud, rhythmic thumping could be heard and then a crunching. More splatters could be heard before she spoke once more. "It…didn't go well."

"I can tell. It's fine; don't worry about it. Just finish up there and come to the mah-jongg place. Your crush is wondering where you are."

"…I'm not some lovesick child…" Another pause. "You don't need any survivors, do you?"

"Nah. Knock yourself out, kid. Have some fun; you earned it after giving up your day off yesterday."

What came from the phone next would probably send a shiver down anyone else's spine, but it instead brought Shigaraki puzzlement. The most evil, hysterical giggle could be heard coming from the phone and it was swiftly followed by a full on cackle. He dragged his nails over his neck, amazed that such a sound was coming from Giran's soft-spoken assistant.

The call was ended and the smile on Giran's face was absurdly smug. "She's got a pretty twisted idea of "fun"," he remarked. "But that's what makes her so good at her job."

There was clearly something wrong with her. For one, she was his fan. That alone was weird, but he was not about to complain about that. Secondly, she sounded outright psychotic over the phone. Thinking about the girls that wrote fan mail to serial killers, Shigaraki remembered Kurogiri saying that they usually liked to think of themselves as insane. Even if they were perfectly sane, boring girls.

_There's something wrong with her. So why do I want to see her? I don't get it. She looks like a rejected character from an indie game and she hardly even talks. She just sits there and does whatever I want and stares at me. Like she's obsessed or something._ He returned his gaze to the countertop, anxiously awaiting her arrival.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu was surrounded by the coppery aroma of blood. Really, the bar smelled like a butcher's shop. It looked quite a bit like a slaughterhouse from an American horror movie she had once seen. Blood dripped from the ceiling, ran down the walls, and pooled on the floor around the plethora of bodies. Dead criminals were strewn about the room; some in pieces and some moderately whole.

She had been crouched in a corner, a hand pressed to a large patch of darkness on the wall as she talked on the phone with Giran. It had taken a lot of control to keep herself from letting her excitement leak into her voice. A grin contorted her features as she spoke, as she let her quirk do its magic.

The young woman had a particularly dangerous quirk called "shadow play". Any shadow that she touched, she could temporarily force into a new shape and grant life. She could control it to do whatever task she needed it to and she could even force it to solidify. The bigger the shadow, the more powerful her creation.

One downside was that the longer she had to control the shadow, the more stamina it burned up. Another drawback was that she needed sufficient levels of shade for it to work well. Too much light and it would be weak. Pure darkness was uncontrollable since it was everywhere. She absolutely needed some light for it to work.

The shadow that she had been controlling had taken the form of a mass of dark tentacles that tore apart and throttled the criminals around her. There was blood splashed across the front of her shirt and it dotted her face, neck, and hair. She wiped a bit at her cheek as she stood to leave, smudging the blood a little and making her look menacing.

_Did Giran say that Shigaraki wanted to see me?_ Realization set in, making her feel almost giddy. The two had spent most of the previous day together, playing games, but when she left he seemed completely unconcerned. _He wants to see me_, she thought as she slipped out into the alley behind the bar. _He really wants to see me?_

Heart racing, she made her way to the mah-jongg parlor using back alleys so she could hide her bloody, disheveled appearance. She wished that she had time to clean herself up before meeting with the villain, but knew that she needed to move quickly. She was eager to see him again, however she had another reason for hurrying. It would be unprofessional to make him wait.

As she entered the mah-jongg place, she became self-conscious about the bloody scent coming off of her and her overall crazed appearance. Her feline ears turned back as she approached Giran's side and she kept her head bowed to avoid meeting anyone's gaze. _I wish I'd had time to clean up…I look disgusting._

"Here she is. Kugutsu-chan, nice of you to join us," Giran greeted her.

"Unprofessional," Shigaraki muttered from his seat at the counter. He stood and ventured a few steps closer, glaring down at her from behind the hand positioned over his face. "You show up late to a meeting and you couldn't even clean yourself up first? What's the point in even coming here?"

A pang of disappointment made Kugutsu's chest grow tight. "I…had an errand. I came here as soon as I was done."

"Why should we even keep you around?"

"…I'm sorry, Shigaraki-san…" She bowed and hesitated to rise. The assistant was fearful of what sort of disapproving look he may be giving her. _I wanted him to like me! I really wanted him to like me and I let him down! Why?! Why is this happening? I feel like I'm going insane!_

He was silent for a long moment and finally lifted a hand. Pulling the disembodied hand off of his face, he stared down at Kugutsu with narrowed red eyes. "Your stupid apology doesn't mean anything to me."

Giran rubbed the back of his head and twitched his lips, shifting his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. "Well, looks like you pissed him off," he said under his breath. "Hey, don't worry about it, Shigaraki. I'm sure Kugutsu-chan can find some way to make it up to you."

"Next time you come here to talk, bring her. I don't care what she's doing." Shigaraki returned to his seat and set the hand onto the countertop. "She works for _me_ anyway."

"Sure thing." Giran nudged her elbow to make her lift her head.

Kugutsu saw Shigaraki holding onto the hand by its wrist and noticed that he kept his little finger elevated, refusing to let it touch the odd accessory he had been wearing. _His quirk is decay_, she remembered. _When all five fingers touch something, it starts to disintegrate._

Just then the true danger of the day before sank in. At any moment, he could have grabbed her by the throat with all five fingers touching her skin and she would have died a wretchedly painful death. A shiver ran down her spine as she met his gaze with her own. _But he didn't kill me. He let me live._

Her heart skipped a beat and she had to fight the smile that threatened to spread across her face. Kugutsu's fingers ran through her scruffy black hair, tearing through the drying clumps of blood. "Shigaraki-san, I promise…I'll do better. For you." The addition of the last two words brought an unfortunate flush to her cheeks that did not go unnoticed.

"See that? You've really got yourself a loyal fan girl here, Shigaraki."

"…don't call me a fan girl…" she muttered.

"My fan…" The blue-haired villain stared at her for a few seconds until his scarred lips twitched, raising at one corner to display a smirk. "I have my own fan. A loyal fan. I don't get what the big deal is. Is it some sick thrill for you?"

Giran's frown began to deepen and he put a hand on his assistant's shoulder. "No; she's seriously a fan. Right, Kugutsu-chan?"

Something told her that if she answered incorrectly then she could die. The danger rose goose bumps on her skin and she lifted a hand to cover her smile. The pink hue on her cheeks was still quite visible. Her ears perked forward as she shifted her weight to one hip. "I'm…I'm a fan," she admitted. _But I'm not an obsessive fan girl._

Searching someone's name online a dozen times a day did not mean that she was obsessed with him. Constantly skimming the newspapers for any details about him, looking for any possible social media accounts, watching the news in hopes of him being mentioned, and attempting to subtly get information from Giran did not make her an obsessive fan girl. No, not even the fact that she had named a Pokémon after him in her game.

_I'm not obsessed_, she thought as she timidly glanced toward his smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

NeonHorizon: I debated whether or not Kurogiri was in character this chapter. I mean, I could see this weird exchange happening. He just kind of sounds like an irritated parent. Anyway...here's more content.

* * *

_Fan girl. I have a fan girl._ The light of the screen illuminated his face in a most unsettling way as he hunched forward a little. Buttons clicked as he skipped through a cut scene to get to combat. He was determined to beat her on the first try the next time they played against each other.

His fan girl was now required to come with Giran every time the broker visited. So far, neither of them came to the bar. As perplexing as that was, it gave him the opportunity to mull over what it meant to have a fan.

Video games had fans. Movies had fans. Television shows had fans. Heroes had fans. Even serial killers had fans. Anyone or anything that was important had a fan. If Kugutsu was his fan, then that must mean he was important to her. The very thought gave him a boost of confidence.

Shigaraki was still healing after being shot in all four limbs, but he had every intention of making a move again. Whether it was another attempt on All Might's life or simply making himself more established as a villain. He had goals and the knowledge that someone admired him enough to be a fan only added fuel to his fire.

_My fan girl_, he thought with a quick scratch to his neck. _What's my fan girl doing right now?_

"Shigaraki Tomura, do you plan to leave your room today?" Kurogiri's voice penetrated the door. He could easily just open a warp gate and enter, but was respecting the other villain's privacy.

Pausing the game, he narrowed his eyes at the screen. His character was in mid-attack, about to deal the finishing blow to his opponent. Turning his head to glare at the door, he chewed at his lower lip. "I don't feel like it."

"I will be leaving soon to run an errand."

"Do what you want. I don't care." He slouched again and resumed his game. The room was fairly dark with the exception of the illumination of the console's screen. The dim light never bothered him; he preferred it.

When his fifth opponent was defeated, Shigaraki released a pleased sigh and leaned his head back. He wanted to challenge her to another match now that he had beaten so many enemies in a row. Imagining her feline ears flattened in disappointment brought a feeling of contentment. The villain could only imagine how it would feel to see it in real life.

It was still perplexing that she had cat ears, but no tail. _That freak. She looks like she's cosplaying. And every time she looks at me, she stares like she's in love or something. _He looked toward the door and once he was sure that Kurogiri was gone, he left the room. _I should make her do something for me. She's my loyal fan; she'll do anything I want, right? What should I make her do?_

**Shift P.O.V**

"Chisaki Kai."

Giran pushed up his glasses and quirked an eyebrow. "Who?"

"This guy. Chisaki Kai," Kugutsu brought up an image on her phone and tapped an obsidian nail against the screen. "He's got potential so why aren't we trying to work with him?"

The man frowned, leaning back in his seat at his desk. "Because we work for All for One mostly. I don't think it's a good idea to go looking for more clients right now, Kugutsu-chan." He saw her shoulders droop and he smirked. "What? You have yourself another little crush? He's not a bad-looking guy, I guess, and he's probably around your age. You could just talk to him-"

She bristled, ears going back. "This isn't about a crush," his assistant grumbled. "I'm talking about a legitimate business move. We can cover more villains this way and bring in more money."

Giran shrugged. "Okay, but you're missing something here. This guy isn't a villain; he's yakuza."

Kugutsu blinked slowly. "Yakuza? And that's…?"

"Mafia? Organized crime? You've never seen any old crime movies, have you?" Seeing her shake her head, the man clicked his tongue. "I'll just put it simply then; we don't work with yakuza." He could see that she was becoming frustrated, even a little disappointed. "Okay, I'll tell you what. If _you_ want to reach out to this Chisaki Kai and offer to work with him, be my guest. I'll back you up."

"You mean that?" Her pulse quickened, excitement flooding her veins. She had always just assisted in the shadows so to be able to work one on one with a client was a big deal for her. It took her a step closer to becoming a real broker like Giran. However, she still kept her lips in a straight line and her eyes neutral.

"Sure thing. Just be cautious though. We mainly work for villains so a yakuza boy might not take too kindly to you reaching out. He might think you're trying to insinuate something."

"I'll be careful," she assured him. "For starters…I'll call for the initial contact. If he does agree to work with me, I'll only meet one on one."

Giran could see the sparkle in her eyes, despite her neutral expression. After seeing the way she looked at Shigaraki, he became pretty good at identifying when she was having a fan girl moment. With a smirk, he leaned forward in his seat and lit a fresh cigarette. "Maybe doll yourself up if you meet him, huh? Never thought you'd be good eye candy, but Shigaraki appreciates you."

Blood rushed to her face, filling it with a warm hue, and she gripped her phone tighter. "I-I don't care…as long as he works with me," she muttered.

"I still can't get used to how you change when you fan girl out over a guy. It's almost cute. Okay, so, go make your phone call and let me know how it goes." He made a shooing motion with his cigarette, his expression rather smug.

_It's not that_, she told herself as she went to her own desk. _I admire power. I admire ambition. It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Shigaraki is a guy and that he's kind of cute and damn it! _She aggressively ruffled her short, dark hair and growled in frustration. Across the room at his own desk, Giran started to chuckle. _I hate losing control of my emotions. Why do I get like this every time I think about Shigaraki?_

Once she had calmed down and managed to regain control of her emotions, Kugutsu began her search for some sort of contact information for Chisaki Kai. Not an easy task, by the way. He had no social media presence and rarely even showed up in articles, but what she did find impressed her.

The dark web brought her information regarding certain incidents that he happened to be a part of and his quirk seemed to involve disassembling and reassembling organic and inorganic matter. In short, the man was absurdly powerful. She managed to find someone that was part of the Shie Hassakai, but they were just an underling. After spending half of the day on this one project, she finally got a number for someone called Kurono.

"Make any progress?"

She jolted and bristled at Giran, who was standing behind her and looking at her notes over her shoulder. "I've got a phone number."

"Only took you half the day," he taunted. "Anyway, put a pin in this because I have an actual job for you to do."

"…this _is_ actual work…"

"That's your little side project, kid. I'm talking about something that's actually going to pay. While you were trying to dig up information on your yakuza boy, I got a call with a job for you specifically. You up for a challenge?"

"A job for me specifically?" Kugutsu closed her notes and lifted her gaze curiously. _An ambush job for my "shadow play"? Or maybe I need to sneak into a place for something? Usually Giran just gives me the stuff he doesn't want to do._

The man leaned against the side of her desk, unable to hide the smirk that drew at his lips. "Yeah. So?"

"I guess I can put this on hold."

"Good. To be honest, you'd probably call and get hung up on anyway."

"Thanks for the confidence boost."

"Hey, I'm a good boss, aren't I? I pay you too well to also be your friend," he argued half-heartedly. "So anyway, I need you to go to the mah-jongg place and-" Giran paused, seeing her mouth twitch and a faint warmth rise to her cheeks. "Before you get all cutesy, starry-eyed fan girl about it, listen to the rest of what you need to do. This isn't a delivery or something. You need to actually put some effort into this job."

Kugutsu leaned back in her seat and nodded. "So…?"

A full on grin took form on her boss's face. "I need you to take Shigaraki somewhere and show him a good time."

"…I'm not an escort…"

"I didn't mean like that! I mean, take him somewhere fun and just get him out of the bar for a while. He's All for One's protégé, but he's still got stuff to learn. He needs to learn social skills and stuff so why not have his cute fan girl help him? Just give him a good day."

"The day's half over." Though she was speaking calmly and keeping her face moderately composed, her pulse was racing and Kugutsu could feel sweat forming on her palms and hairline. _Spend half the day with Shigaraki? I want to. I really want to do that, but what if I let him down? What if he gets bored?_

"Look, I know I asked if you wanted to go, but you don't really have a choice here. I'm not going. This is seriously something only you can do."

"…the pay…?"

"I'll reimburse all the expenses for the day so keep your receipts. The base pay will be about twenty thousand yen for the half day and I'll tack on a bonus if you do a good job." He winked, making her stomach turn, and returned to his desk. "Might want to wear something casual."

Kugutsu made her way to her room and immediately began rummaging through her clothes for something to wear. _Casual. I can't wear sweatpants though. I don't want him to think I don't care. I don't want him to think I care too much._ She ruffled her hair and grimaced. _This is too complicated! What's the perfect outfit for hanging out with a cool villain like Shigaraki?! He's a real villain!_

She decided to let fate decide on her outfit. Closing her eyes, she felt around for some pants and retrieved a pair of jeans from her dresser. Combining these with a random t-shirt with a cartoon cat on it, she looked like the very definition of casual wear. Brushing her hair would make it look like she was trying too hard, so she just left it wild.

The young woman grabbed her messenger bag, shoving her favorite console and game case into it as well as an energy drink from her mini fridge. It was as she was leaving her room that her phone rang and displayed "unknown caller" on the screen. "Kugutsu Kurayami speaking. Who is calling?"

"I heard that you were looking for me," an unfamiliar male voice replied.


	6. Chapter 6

NeonHorizon: No worries. Kugutsu might be a villain fan girl, but she's _Shigaraki's_ fan girl. I have a separate fanfic that I have planned for Overhaul...for later. I intend to keep this just for Shigaraki. His own fun little...dark rom-com. The next chapter will be a bit longer (experimenting with chapter length) and have some extra special stuff. Thank you to those that leave reviews; it's very much appreciated ^_^

* * *

"I got a call back." Kugutsu was shaking with excitement, but she refused to show it on her face or let it leak into her voice. Though her pulse was still racing and she was still surprised to have received the call.

A sigh of frustration came before his words, but it was so exaggeratd that Kugutsu had a feeling it was forced. "Look, kid, I told you to put your project on hold until you're done with your actual job," Giran remarked.

"I _am_ doing my actual job."

"You're supposed to meet with Shigaraki. Why are you calling-?"

"I didn't call Chisaki Kai first; he just called me while I was on the train." She had attempted to remain calm during the call, but it was difficult. If she could get this powerful yakuza member to work with her, she would have her first client. She might even dare to call herself a broker like Giran.

There was a brief pause before he spoke again. "Kugutsu-chan, if you didn't call him first, how did he get your number?"

_Wait a second. How __**did**__ he get my phone number?_ Pausing at a crosswalk, she lifted a trembling hand to her scruffy, dark hair. "He…sought me out first…?"

"Hey, you're probably fine. Just be aware of your surroundings and-"

"He sought me out first," she repeated, her voice raising in pitch slightly and a smile curling her lips. Kugutsu bowed her head, her hand covering her mouth to try to hide her delight. _A powerful, ambitious person like Chisaki Kai. Someone with that much potential. He wanted to talk to me first! I can't believe it! It's so cool!_

"Kugutsu-chan? If you can stop geeking out about that guy for a minute, maybe you could give me the details? What did he say?"

She took a deep breath, trying to regain control of her emotions. Putting on a neutral expression, she lowered her hand and slid it into her pocket. "He asked me to meet with him tomorrow afternoon. I chose a shady place so I should be alright if things take a turn, Giran-san."

"Send me the location; I'll ask someone to scout it out ahead of time."

"…thanks…"

"Don't think I've gone sentimental or something, got it? This is business. Speaking of which, I wouldn't bring this up around Shigaraki. Probably for the best if he thinks you're only working with him."

When the call ended, she took a moment longer to compose herself before she continued the walk to the mah-jongg parlor. _If I can get Chisaki Kai to sign a contract with me, I'll be a broker, _she told herself._ I'll be recognized then. I'll be able to work with more villains and then…and then…_

There was no proper ending to that sentence. Kugutsu had no idea what would happen then. She had already forged a working relationship with Shigaraki. She still felt her heart skip a beat when she thought about that. Now she was trying to get a contract with a yakuza member. Once she was a recognized broker, she would have reached her goal. That was it.

What her heart really wanted, more than anything else, was to be like them. To be a real villain and bring about chaos the way so many others did. She wanted to see heroes fall and civilians surge through the streets in a panic.

With each step closer to the mah-jongg bar, she could feel herself growing more nervous. Her stomach did flips until she felt like she might vomit, her pulse beat erratically, and Kugutsu found herself frantically wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. _Just stay calm. This is for work. I'm getting paid to do this._

A hand lifted, trembling, and she opened the door to let herself in. _I'm getting paid to do this! I'm actually getting paid to spend time with him! I never thought I'd get to meet him and now-!_ Kugutsu leaned against the wall in the dim corridor, allowing herself a smile. _I get to see him again. I get to be around him. Shigaraki Tomura. A real villain! What did I do to deserve something this cool?!_

**Shift P.O.V**

Hearing the door open, he paused his game and looked toward his open doorway. There were a few footsteps, followed by a quiet thud. Shigaraki saved his game progress and decided to see what it was. He was expecting his fan girl to show up. Giran had called to say that she would be stopping by because she wanted to take him somewhere.

That thought alone boosted his confidence. She wanted to see him. That girl, his fan girl, wanted to spend time with him. As he stepped out of his room, he started to think about the game they played together and how much he wanted to challenge her again. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the hallway, but he soon recognized the shape of a figure shorter than him.

Shigaraki immediately knew it was her. Kurogiri would have said something if he was back and Kurogiri was taller than him. As he took a few quiet steps closer, he saw that she was facing away from him and seemed to be leaning against the wall. Squinting, he saw Kugutsu frantically start ruffling her hair and he chewed at his lower lip. _What is she doing?_

"Just…deep breaths. Why am I so nervous?! He's just a person! But he's so cool…ngh! I can't…handle this!" Her voice was a hushed whisper, but it still echoed in the empty passage.

Realizing that she was talking about him, his lip twitched at the corner. Lifting slowly as it really set in. She admired him so much that she was nervous about seeing him. Butterflies in the stomach, heart palpitating, fan girl nervousness. As he tilted his head, he wondered if All Might's fans ever acted like this and this thought gave him immense satisfaction.

Slow, quiet steps brought him closer to where Kugutsu had begun to attempt to run her fingers through her hair to untangle it. Shigaraki watched her and heard her mutter to herself, still trying to calm down. It seemed like she was trying to summon the courage to go to his room to see him.

He considered saying something, but decided to wait and see what she did next. The other villain still had her back to him, still talking to herself as she now seemed to be giving herself a pep talk. It was actually pretty entertaining to hear the weird things she was saying to herself. Shigaraki had never seen someone lose their composure over the simple idea of talking to him.

Kugutsu finally turned around to start walking toward his room and in that moment, showed more emotion than she had ever showed in front of him before. Her eyes widened in utter panic and she slammed a hand against the wall as she stumbled backwards, tripping over her own boots. The shadow along the wall came to life; writhing and squirming like a massive snake as it struggled to take a form she could use for protection.

He maintained his composure with only the faintest of smirks. When she realized that it was him, she swiftly yanked her hand away from the wall and the shadows went still once more. "What are you so nervous about?"

"I didn't…realize that you were here, Shigaraki-san. I'm sorry." She bowed again and again, trembling when she lifted those catlike eyes to meet his stare.

"I heard you talking to yourself." The villain saw it in the dimly lit passage; her face took on the faintest hint of color and she lifted a hand to begin chewing at the skin around her thumbnail. "You get so nervous…every time you see me. You must really be a big fan."

**Shift P.O.V**

_No, no, no! How could I do something so stupid?! I panicked and I almost attacked him!_ Kugutsu saw him turn and begin walking back to his room. She put a hand over her heart, trying to calm its racing pace, and released a shuddering exhale.

When she saw him disappear through his doorway, a thought occurred to her. The second that she panicked and gave the shadows life, he could have reacted. He could have killed her easily. One touch and her body would have crumbled away into dust. He had stayed perfectly still; not moving any closer and not reaching out to retaliate. Shigaraki had spared her, despite her almost attacking him.

Giran told her to take him somewhere fun, but Kugutsu's idea of fun was pretty different from the average person's. She enjoyed games. She liked to indulge in the occasional horror movie, but only if it had the potential to have some intense gore. What could really put a smile on her face was when Giran sent her into a dangerous situation that would result in a bloodbath.

Following behind Shigaraki, she was hesitant to speak up. _How exactly do I ask him to go somewhere with me? And where will I even take him?_ Kugutsu attempted to form a plan as she neared his doorway and jolted when he suddenly came out again.

He was now wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood already pulled up, his mouth twisted into a frown when he saw that she had followed him. Without a word to her, he stepped around Kugutsu and moved toward the exit. When he realized that she was still standing near his room, he looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. "You're supposed to take me somewhere…and entertain me. So why are you just standing there?"

"Right. I'm sorry, Shigaraki-san." She joined him and opened the door for him, heart beating so fast that it almost hurt. Just then an idea clicked in her head. There was an arcade that she liked to go to sometimes, when she had free time. The games there were nowhere near as cool as what she had for her console, but she found the place enjoyable enough.

"Take me somewhere fun," he muttered once they were outside.

_I can't take him to an arcade! This is Shigaraki that we're talking about! He's a real villain; he deserves way better than a stupid little arcade! Where can I take him?!_ She started walking without really paying attention, her head bowed and fingers trailing through her tangled hair as she tried to come up with an idea.

Shigaraki walked behind her, believing briefly that she had a place in mind and then quickly realizing that she had no idea where she was going to take him. He watched her get a decent distance ahead of him and took brisk steps to catch up to her. A hand left his pocket, thumb and index finger gripping her shirt to stop her from leaving him behind again.

When she felt the tug at her shirt, Kugutsu felt her heart skip a beat and blood rushed to her cheeks. "Sorry, sorry. I'm rambling and I…"

"You're bad at this. So unprofessional. What kind of fan are you?"

"I'm not-" She felt the fabric of her shirt go slack and cold fingers grasped her wrist. A look down showed him holding onto her, but keeping his little finger extended away from her skin. _He's…practically holding my hand._

"I know a place," he grumbled. He walked ahead of her, leading Kugutsu by his hold on her wrist. For an instant, she could swear she saw him grin.


	7. Chapter 7

NeonHorizon: I made this chapter slightly longer than usual so let me know what you think. Should every chapter be this length or do you prefer shorter chapters? Anyway. So this was pretty fun to write! I hope it's as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write.

* * *

Kugutsu was hyper self-conscious and she hated it. When she was working, she was mindful that she conducted herself in a way that would not embarrass Giran or reflect poorly on him. Professionalism was easy to accomplish with most people; bow, speak quietly, and try for the best impression. This task that he had put before her was making her feel awkward and nervous.

It felt as though Shigaraki was judging her every move, but she knew at the back of her mind that she was being ridiculous. His eyes were on the screen, observing her technique as he chewed at his lower lip. When she subconsciously tried to scoot away from him, he only moved closer.

_His knee is touching mine! What do I do?_ A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face and Kugutsu wiped at it with the back of her hand. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her sweat. It normally failed to even draw her attention, but now it made her feel disgusting.

In her moment of self-conscious terror, Kugutsu was sitting as still as possible while still playing her game. Her muscles were beginning to hurt from staying in one position for so long, but she was afraid of somehow making herself look stupid in front of him. After all, the villain was sitting so close that his knee was touching hers as he peered down at the screen of her console.

When he said that he had somewhere in mind for them to go, she had no idea what to expect. Her mind had reeled with possibilities, her heart rate steadily climbing towards panic, until she found herself entering a shopping center with Shigaraki. Now they were sitting on the edge of a fountain, the blue-haired man invading her personal space bubble with her reacting as if he was a landmine about to go off.

Despite her familiarity with the game, Kugutsu found herself unable to beat her opponent. She gritted her teeth and tried to maintain her neutral expression, but it was insanely difficult when she was making such a fool of herself in front of the villain she admired. A boot lifted, slamming against the tiled floor, and she allowed herself a small growl of frustration.

"Hand it over." The words were quiet, but clearly demanding. Shigaraki held out a hand, his expression rather intense. Once the console was in his hands, the villain made quick work of her opponent.

She slouched, letting her muscles finally relax now that his focus was completely on the game. _I made myself look weak in front of him. I'm so awkward and he's…_Her eyes widened as she watched her character behead the opponent. _He's so cool._

Kugutsu thought about moving her leg away from his, but soon felt his knee pressing closer against hers. A sensation began in her chest. An odd sensation that was foreign to her. It felt like her heart was filling with tiny little bubbles that were popping. Like pure excitement and bliss were flowing through her veins, pumping through her body with each pop of the bubbles.

She bowed her head and lifted a hand to her mouth, wanting to hide her smile. _He probably thinks I'm lame. I'm just a broker's assistant. What Shigaraki does is so much cooler. All for One has so much confidence in him…I can only imagine what he'll do in the future._

With her head still sort of down, she let her gaze wander from the console screen. Kugutsu studied the shape of his fingers and the pale color of his skin. She slowly moved on from his hands and up along his arms. The sweatshirt he was wearing fit him pretty loosely, but she remembered how slender he was from when she saw him before. She could see a hint of his neck within the dark hood, her heart thumping faster as she noticed a muscle twitch.

Finally, her eyes lifted to his face. She drank in his appearance like a parched wanderer that had finally reached the only bar in the wilderness. The mole beneath his mouth, the dry texture of his lips, the scar that marred his lip. Kugutsu frowned and threaded a hand into her hair. _Why am I staring at his lips so much?! It's not like…I wouldn't kiss him, right? He wouldn't want to anyway! Not that I want to! So why am I fixating?_

"What are you staring at?" he demanded, not even bothering to look away from the screen. "What? You get a kick out of staring at me?"

"You're…cool," she hesitantly answered. To her surprise, the villain tensed upon hearing this. "I like you. A lot. I guess I really am a fan." She rubbed the back of her neck and bowed her head, but watched him from the corner of her eye.

"You're my fan girl. Of course you think I'm cool."

For whatever reason, hearing this made warmth rise to her face. She felt a smile wanting to form on her lips and covered her mouth with a hand, turning her head to the side. "You…don't think I'm _weird_?"

"You're psychotic. But you're not annoying." He paused and the corners of his scarred mouth drew up into a sinister grin. "If you start to annoy me, I'll just disintegrate your face."

Her stomach did a flip and she lowered her hand to let him see her half-smile. "I…wouldn't mind that."

Shigaraki looked over briefly, amused by her reaction to his death threat, and then resumed staring at the console screen. "What's your problem anyway? Why do you work for Giran? You want to be a shady broker like him?"

"Kind of." She let her professionalism slip now, realizing that he did not want Giran's assistant. What Shigaraki wanted right at this moment was his fan girl. "What I really want is to be a real villain." Kugutsu saw him bite the edge of his lower lip at the corner and decided to continue. If nothing else, it would entertain him. "Heroes…are nothing but trash. People believe in them because they don't believe in themselves. They're just…convenient interlopers."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.

Now dropping her guard, she decided to be completely candid with him. "When I was starting middle school, I was in an accident and lost my parents. It's a boring story so I won't go into too much detail, but…a hero chose to save me instead of my parents. My mother and father, my unborn brother. They died and I had to live. Heroes make stupid choices and they make people suffer. All while they _pretend_ to be helping."

Shigaraki spared her a glance and saw her actually scowling. She turned her head to the side when she noticed him looking. "That's boring."

"It is, right?" Kugutsu remembered when she explained her background to Giran, back when he first took her on as his assistant. Though he had kept a straight face, she could see it in his eyes. Pity; just like what the counselors had showed, like what her classmates and extended family showed.

It was a relief that Shigaraki showed such little interest. _At least he didn't think it was lame_, she thought as her mood lifted again. Talking about heroes always put her in a sour sort of mood. In an effort to not look like a mopey goblin, she leaned over a bit to look at the screen. He was absolutely annihilating every opponent that he encountered. _Has he been practicing? It seems like he's gotten better since we played together._

After she watched him play a few rounds, Shigaraki moved a little closer, his shoulder now pressing against hers, and tilted the screen so she could see better. He seemed to rather enjoy the attention. To the casual onlooker, it probably looked like they were on a date.

Kugutsu felt her stomach do a flip when this thought crossed her mind._ Like we're on a date? No way. Someone like Shigaraki wouldn't date someone like me_, she scolded herself. _He's cool and interesting. He's a real villain! I'm just a broker._

An idea popped into her head and she lifted her gaze to his face. "Um…do you want something to eat? I haven't eaten yet today. I could get us some food and something to drink," she offered.

His eyes narrowed for a moment. The game paused and the villain's crimson gaze met her cat-yellow eyes. "Get something good. I want you to impress me."

Heat bloomed in her face and she rubbed the back of her neck. "A-alright. I'll be right back!" With her heart racing, she hurried off to search for a place that sold food she could deem worthy of being presented to Shigaraki. _He wants me to impress him so it has to be something really good!_

**Shift P.O.V**

This was turning out to be more enjoyable than he expected. Not that he was going to admit this to anyone. He focused on her game once she was gone, trying to get through as many opponents as possible so she would be impressed when she came back. Shigaraki vaguely wondered if it was normal to work so hard to impress a fan, but that thought was quickly pushed aside.

She liked him. She said as much. So not only was she a fan, but she seemed to like him on another level as well. When Kugutsu called him "cool", it was an insane boost to his ego. He felt his pulse quicken at hearing her say it and it made him want to grin.

After a while, he paused the game and lifted his gaze from the console. The shopping center was pretty crowded and she was pretty short so he was not surprised when he failed to spot her in the mass of shoppers. What did perplex him was that the screen of her console showed that she had been gone for almost twenty minutes.

_What's taking her so long?_

Shigaraki lifted a hand, scratching at his throat as he surveyed the crowd again. No sign of the cat-eared fan girl. He saved the game and shoved the console into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Standing, he scowled to himself and began walking. If she was hiding from him somewhere, having some kind of fan girl squealing fit, he was going to be irritated.

Most of the shops near the fountain were clothing or accessory stores. He briefly paused to glance at a directory to look for places that had food and then set off to search for his fan. The villain remembered what she was wearing when he last saw her and scanned the crowds of shoppers for someone wearing those clothes.

_She's wearing that stupid cat t-shirt. Is that supposed to be funny because of those cat ears? Why does she even have cat ears? She doesn't have a cat-themed quirk; she has that weird shadow control quirk. So what's the point of those ears? They're pointless and she looks like a cosplayer._

He scratched at his neck a little harder, glaring at anyone that glanced his way. None of them mattered. No amount of unsettled stares could overshadow the sheepish, pleased look his fan wore when she looked at him. She tried to hide it, but she was really terrible at being subtle around Shigaraki.

It was as he approached a shop specializing in selling snacks that he heard it. A female voice that was soft, sort of low, and melodic in quality. The voice of his fan girl. She was talking to someone, but there was clear irritation in her tone.

Shigaraki came to the entrance of the shop and saw the cat-eared villain standing near the checkout counter. Her arms were crossed, her ridiculous feline ears flattened against her head in agitation. She was facing a young man that looked to be around their age. The clerk appeared smug as he spoke to her. Disgustingly confident.

On the counter between the two was a shopping bag full of a variety of snacks and there were two bottles of tea sitting beside the bag. The clerk leaned in close to her, a hand reaching out and stroking her right ear. "Come on. You'd seriously turn down free snacks for life? Just one night. That's all I want. You like snacks, right?"

Fury ignited in the villain's eyes when he overhead this. He reacted without thinking and was soon leaping over the counter. His right hand lifted and gripped the clerk's throat; all five fingers touching the stranger's flesh. Screams of agony erupted from the young man as he thrashed to try to free himself. The decay spread rapidly, his neck becoming a mess of blood and crumbling skin before it spread to his skull and chest. The villain released the corpse, letting it drop.

Customers were running out of the shop, cries of terror filling the air. Shigaraki looked over his shoulder, half-expecting to see Kugutsu fleeing as well. At the very least, she was probably disgusted. To his surprise, the young woman was blushing red and swiftly lifted a hand to hide her smile. When her eyes met his, there was something there that made his pulse turn erratic.

Without a word to her, he crossed the counter and grabbed Kugutsu's hand. He was careful to keep his little finger extended and heard the rustle of the shopping bag. She gripped it tightly in her free hand and began to giggle.

It was something that he had only heard once, but the sound of it made his chapped lips draw into a wicked grin. She giggled in that sharp, terrifying way he had heard when she slaughtered those criminals in that bar. As they wove through the crowds of shop patrons, trying to make their escape, she clung to his hand and had to bite her lip to try to stop the laughter.

When they were a good distance from the shopping center, Shigaraki received another surprise. He was unsure if she was in her right mind, but her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug and he felt her smirk brush against his neck.

"That was…so amazing! Shigaraki-san, you looked so cool!"

His eyes widened as she hugged tighter and when she let go, leaning back, he saw that thing in her eyes again. That deep admiration. That intense affection.


	8. Chapter 8

Kugutsu could hardly concentrate on her work. The laptop was open, the location of her upcoming meeting was brought up in the image search so she could know the terrain ahead of time. Her thoughts should have been on how she would convince a yakuza member to work with her. Instead, Kugutsu was remembering the day before and all that had happened.

Just thinking about it made her feel giddy. A bubbly sort of happiness filled her every fiber and it was so intense that she almost wanted to cry. The look on the clerk's face when Shigaraki appeared and then the scream of anguish as his flesh began to disintegrate. The brief gurgling of his own blood, the strong smell of iron in the air, and best of all the expression on the villain's face when he dropped the clerk's corpse and turned to look at her.

Her heart skipped a beat when she remembered how he had look upon her; his eyes narrowed, lips twisted into a scowl. The cold way that he first regarded her sent a shiver down her spine, but she was unable to hide her joy. It was beyond embarrassing to act so excited in front of him. Worse than laughing and smiling; she had experience an uncontrollable urge to hug him.

She was reflecting on that hug, allowing herself a brief moment of daydreaming, but it was soon shattered. A sharp knock against the surface of her desk jolted her into the present. Kugutsu saw the smug half-grin on her boss's face and realized that she had been smiling. Lowering her head, she slapped a hand over her mouth and narrowed her eyes.

"So I take it your date went well?"

"…wasn't a date…" she muttered, attempting to force her lips to form a frown. Even with this moment of annoyance, she could still remember the feeling of Shigaraki's hand gripping hers and it made her heart start to palpitate.

"Sure, sure. You know, you were out pretty late. It's okay if you had a good time, Kugutsu-chan. Everyone's gotta cut loose sometimes. Even people like you. So…your meeting's pretty soon, right?"

"I have an hour and a half." Kugutsu finally succeeded in shaping her lips into a look of semi-neutral displeasure and lifted her gaze toward Giran.

The man raised an eyebrow. "You should probably get ready."

"I'm ready."

"You're going to meet a yakuza guy like him wearing something like that?"

Her frown deepened and she stood, bracing her hands against her desk's surface to stop them from curling into fists. "What? I always wear this."

His sigh was loud, dramatic, and he shook his head. "You have nice clothes. What about the dress I bought for you when you had that recruiting mission?" Placing a hand on her shoulder, his expression shifted from its usual smugness to actual concern. "Look. Yakuza are kinda old-fashioned. You want to make yourself look nice if you want him to want to work with you. You need to impress this guy and leave a good impression, alright? So. The dress. And maybe try putting on some makeup, huh? The way you look and act is gonna reflect on me."

She was not at all pleased with the idea of putting on airs just to secure a contract with a client. However, this would be her first client. And he was a pretty important one, even if he was yakuza rather than an actual villain. If she wanted to make any progress as a broker, she would need for this to work out.

Kugutsu set aside her pride and comfort. The outfit she decided on included a knee-length black dress with her usual boots, a jacket, and her black choker. Simple, but when paired with the faint hint of pink on her lips and the fact that Giran made her actually brush her hair, she looked rather stylish.

The entire train ride to the area of the meeting, her heart pounded with excitement. She wiped her palms on the dark fabric of her dress, nervously awaiting the moment she would meet him. Her potential first client. The powerful, ambitious Chisaki Kai.

The meeting place she had selected was a small café with an outdoor garden seating area that provided a number of secluded tables where a private conversation could take place. The garden had many trees, thus providing her with all of the shadows she could need in case things took a dangerous turn. It was an ambient, peaceful place so she hoped that things would remain civil.

Kugutsu arrived and went to a table as far from the café as possible, hoping that he would be able to find her there. As luck, or misfortune, would have it, Chisaki appeared seconds later. Now she had no extra time to consider how to talk him into signing a contract with her.

She immediately felt her pulse start to race when she set eyes on him. The yakuza member was around her age and had rather nice features. What really made her stomach do flips were his eyes. They were a warm golden shade and when they settled on her, despite narrowing, it sent a shiver through her. "Thank you for coming," she greeted him, standing to bow.

He simply nodded and gestured for her to sit again. Chisaki was watching her closely, catching every little detail. The anxious twitch of her feline ears, the sheen of her gaze, the slight warm hue that rose to her cheeks and made her freckles less noticeable. Despite these things, her lips remained in a flat, straight line.

The sales pitch that she had heard Giran give to a number of villains felt wrong for this occasion so she had decided to take a different approach. She mentioned the perks of working with a broker; getting supplies, new members, weapons, items to boost quirks. She brought up a few of her past jobs that she had performed for Giran; recruitment missions, item retrieval, and money collecting. Kugutsu could see a spark of interest in his eyes when she spoke of her previous experience working for Giran and it filled her heart with hope.

_He's so cool! He hasn't even said anything since he sat down! I think I might actually start shaking!_ She finished her explanation of how the partnership would work and retrieved a copy of a standard contract from her bag, sliding it across the table to him.

Chisaki gave it a brief glance before returning his gaze to her. "How do you write your name?" His voice was slightly muffled by the plain, black medical mask he wore over his nose and mouth. Kugutsu had noticed this as well as his gloves and had assumed that he simply had a phobia of germs or dirt.

"Ah. "Kugutsu" is written as "puppet" and "Kurayami" is just written as "darkness". It's not a very good name, I'm afraid." She tried not to let the question affect her, but she could feel the warmth in her face increasing by the second.

"You have…an _ability_…it's called "shadow play"."

"Yes, Chisaki-san. That's correct." Puzzlement threatened to furrow her brow as she tried to determine why he was bringing this up. Her quirk had nothing to do with their contract and he seemed almost disgusted when he mentioned it.

There was a brief pause before he slid the contract back to her, unsigned. "I have an offer for you."

**Shift P.O.V**

"Huh? Sorry, Shigaraki. She's out right now."

His fingers tightened on the phone, teeth digging into his lower lip. A boredom had set in, so heavy that it felt like it was literally weighing him down. He was still healing from his USJ injuries and little could be done until he had more members for the League of Villains. At the very least, he thought that seeing his fan girl again would lift the weight of boredom.

"Do you want me to tell her you called? I can have her call you."

"I wanted to see my fan," he murmured, more to himself than to Giran. "What's so important that she's busy?"

"It's kind of a secret side project. Don't worry; she'll be done soon. Want me to send her your way when it's all wrapped up?"

"…fine…"

"I know you don't want to wait, but she'll be done pretty soon. She's gonna be pretty happy to see you again, too. I don't think I've seen her smile so much before. She must be really into you."

He had been scowling since he heard the news that she was busy, but now he could feel the corner of his lips twitch upward incrementally. _My loyal fan. She really likes me._ His nails dug at his neck as he heard Giran say that he would have Kugutsu bring food to the mah-jongg bar when she was finished.

Their time together had not stopped after leaving the shopping center. No, they had spent hours together afterwards. Kugutsu had her console and games with her so she played a few games against him. She had blushed when she showed him the Pokémon that she had named after him, timidly looking away when she mentioned that it was her favorite Pokémon.

_It was level one hundred. She must've put a lot of work into that. Just to try to impress me._ It was rare for anyone to try to impress him so the fact that this girl, his fan girl, spent hours grinding away and leveling up so she could show him a level one hundred Pokémon named after him, showed immense dedication.

Shigaraki drew his nails from his neck and briefly thought about how it felt when she threw her arms around him. That moment of a warm embrace from someone that admired him. Someone that liked him so much. A hug from his fan girl. It had given him such a boost of confidence and gave him another feeling that was indescribable.

**Shift P.O.V**

_I can't believe it…_Kugutsu's heart was pounding, even a half hour after the fact. Looking down at the business card in her hand, she blinked and almost expected the card to vanish. The offer itself to have been a delusion cooked up by her sleep-deprived mind.

Even after shaking her head, the card was still there and she still had that feeling of terrified excitement. _I can't believe that he wants me to join the Shie Hassakai! Someone…as powerful and ambitious as Chisaki-san…wants me to work for him! This is insane! That would be such an honor! And he's so cool!_

Her phone started to ring and she answered it to find Giran. "I'm coming back now, Giran-san. You're never going to believe-"

"Shigaraki wants to see you so I'm gonna need you to pick up a takeout order and bring it to him, okay?"

She paused in her steps, her pulse seeming to skip a beat. "Huh?"

"Shigaraki wants to see you-"

"Shigaraki-san…wants to see me?" The bubbly happiness from before began to crash over her terrified excitement like an ocean wave, washing it away and replacing it with pure elation over the fact that he wanted to see her.

"Yeah. So can you grab some food and go see him? You've got the rest of the day off anyway; I cleared up your schedule after that meeting. I didn't know how it'd go so I had to plan for the worst-case scenario."

_Did he think I was going to get killed? It's kind of the opposite._ She looked down at the card in her hand again and her stomach began to twist in knots. _Wait. If I join Chisaki-san, I couldn't become a broker. I couldn't work with Shigaraki-san. But this is a huge opportunity. But…_

"And, hey, don't tell Shigaraki what you did today. He doesn't need to know that you're trying to make a contract with someone else. Something tells me he wouldn't like it."

She shoved the business card deep into her bag and shrugged to herself. "It's just business. Isn't that what you always say?" Like a good assistant, Kugutsu went to pick up the food. Like a good fan, she grabbed something a little extra as a gift for her object of admiration.

With each step closer to the mah-jongg bar, she could feel herself being pushed just that much closer to nervous-vomiting. After geeking out over her own Pokémon for hours the night before and losing a few games to Shigaraki, she was afraid of what he may think of her now. _I kept babbling about that Pokémon. He probably thinks I'm lame. I shouldn't have even showed him that!_

Kugutsu entered the mah-jongg place through the front entrance and was greeted with the sight of Shigaraki seated at the counter with a stack of playing cards in front of him and Kurogiri behind the counter attempting to get bar-related work done. She bowed and greeted the two villains, every fiber of her being trembling with excitement at the mere sight of Shigaraki.

It was as he looked over that she remembered how she looked and subconsciously lifted a hand to her hair. Fingers began to anxiously ruffle at the neatly combed obsidian locks until they were their usual chaotic fluff, but it did nothing to ease her nerves. The hand that was gripping the bag of takeout was shaking so much that the bag was audibly rustling.

She lifted the bag, now drawing Kurogiri's attention as well, and bowed her head. "I brought food," she announced, humiliated when her voice actually cracked a little. _What's wrong with me? Is it because I hugged him? I feel…like I'm kind of afraid he's mad, but I'm still really excited to see him. What kind of feeling is this?_

Shigaraki stared in her direction from behind the hand that was over his face, his expression completely unreadable. When he finally stood, he saw her tense up. Approaching Kugutsu, the villain's lips twisted in displeasure behind the hand and he scratched absently at his neck. "Let's go. I wasted enough time waiting around for you to show up."


	9. Chapter 9

NeonHorizon: Thank you to everyone that leaves reviews! I really appreciate them! And thank you to the silent readers, too! Every tenth chapter of a fanfic, I like to do something a little special. I haven't decided what that will be yet, but I want to do something...cool.

* * *

Despite the dying sunlight, he could still see it from the corner of his eye. She was wearing the slightest of smiles with the faintest hint of pink in her face. Even if the smile was small, he could tell from her eyes that she was happy. Oddly, eerily happy. And he seemed to be the cause of it. Well, if her continuously wandering gaze was any indication, he was the cause of her happiness.

"What're you so happy about?" Shigaraki's tone was harsh. The villain half-suspected that she was so gleeful over some earlier event. Perhaps from talking to another villain or maybe her cheery mood stemmed from a date. She was certainly dressed as if she had come from one.

Kugutsu hesitated to answer, her fingers trailing through her dark hair in embarrassment. "I'm happy because I got to see you today," she quietly replied.

He hated it, but those words had an effect on him. The villain's heavy boredom from before had started to fade gradually after her arrival. First starting when they left the bar and now it seemed to be completely replaced by another feeling. No longer bored, he was now amused. Pleased even.

The notion that she was really, truly happy just to have been able to see him was strange. However, Kugutsu was pretty strange. Most likely psychotic. She had yet to stop staring at him since he asked the question.

"Why do you like me so much? What's it like in that creepy head? You get some sick thrill from spending time with me or something? I don't care about entertaining you," Shigaraki muttered in anger. If this was truly her reason, he would kill her. He decided this just now. If she confessed to just having some morbid curiosity about him, he would grab her throat and end her the way he had ended that clerk in the shopping center.

Her face turned away, the girl's feline ears shifting back and down a bit. Kugutsu gripped a strand of her hair and tugged at it a little, chewing at her lower lip. Her shadow began to twist and turn behind her on the sidewalk, wavering into different shapes as she hesitated to answer. When she finally spoke again, her words left him taken aback.

"I like you." An absurdly vibrant pink hue overtook her face, making her freckles seem to almost fade entirely. "I…really, really like you! Every time I think about you, I just…I can't stop thinking about how _cool_ you are! You're amazing! Your quirk, your attack on the USJ, your _potential_! Even your _gaming_ skills are awesome! You…have _no idea_…how cool you are, Shigaraki-san! And I just can't stop thinking about it!"

The villain's eyes widened within his hood and he stared down at her in confusion. There was a painful, hard beating in his chest now. It hurt enough that he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from making a sound. _She likes me? She likes me that much? She really likes me. She admires me so much that she can't stop thinking about me. _His pride grew with the realization that her admiration for him was so great that he seemed to occupy her every thought.

Shigaraki glanced to her shadow and saw it growing. It spread down the sidewalk and was beginning to solidify like a dark carpet. His dry, scarred lips twitched as they stretched into a half-grin. The sight seemed to drive her excitement because now the shadow was violently shifting back and forth like a massive serpent.

"What do you know about my attack on UA?" he challenged. To his surprise, she released a small giggle before clapping a hand over her mouth. The girl's ears flattened against her head and she shifted her eyes to the side. _What's she so excited about? I just asked a question._ He dragged his nails along his neck, waiting for her reply.

She seemed to take a moment to attempt to compose herself, but failed miserably. When she spoke again, her ears perked forward once more and her eyes were lit up with excitement. She looked like the definition of a fan girl as she looked up toward Shigaraki's face.

"I was part of the recruiting process to get the villains for it," she confessed, her words spilling out rapidly. "When I heard what you were planning, I just _had_ to help somehow! I went out and I tried to recruit the best people I could find because your plan sounded so _cool_! I just wish I could've been a part of it or at least seen it in action! I mean, it was such an awesome plan! But then I let you down! I didn't get good enough people to back you up and what kind of villains let their butts get kicked by _teenagers_?!"

The corner of his lip twitched. "You…found people for it?"

She nodded. "I wanted to help because…I mean, I'm not really a real villain myself so I wouldn't be much help. I just wanted to be able to do something for you! I guess, I…heh…even before meeting you, I wanted to impress you…" Her face was changing to bright red and she looked down, fidgeting with her choker necklace. "I ended up failing though, huh? I'm sorry, Shigaraki-san. And now I'm talking too much. You probably think I'm pretty lame. I'm sorry."

It was the opposite. The more she spoke, the bigger the boost to his confidence. He felt that hard, rapid beating in his chest again and he chewed at his lower lip, mulling over everything that she had just confessed to him. She was such a loyal fan, she went out and recruited villains for him and when they failed him, she took it as her own personal failure. She was so afraid of him hating her.

Moving along down the sidewalk, he glanced toward her. The girl's face was still red, but now she was taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down. Without thinking, he reached over and set a hand on top of her head. The last finger of his hand was raised to prevent inadvertently murdering her and he gave the gentlest pat that he could manage.

She blinked and briefly glanced up to him, eyes alight with admiration and pleasure, before casting her gaze toward the ground again. "…you're…so cool…"

"You're a loyal fan, aren't you?" His hand moved with her head when she nodded and he felt his lips twitch again, up into a smirk that was hidden within the shadows of his hood. "You wanted All Might to die?"

The dark, snaking form behind her wavered and shifted until it formed a familiar shape. The shape of a hero. It twitched and writhed, as if in a struggle against something, and then dissipated into a thousand tiny pieces. Shigaraki saw it come back together until it finally formed her shadow again.

"Your plan…it was to get him trapped half-way through one of Kurogiri's warp gates and then close it on him. It would've cut him in half." She sounded like she was holding back laughter and when she turned to face Shigaraki, the flush to her cheeks was different. No longer one of a blushing maiden, but a full on excited homicidal maniac. With a grin to match.

"What're you so excited about now?"

"I loved your plan, but…Shigaraki-san, if I can make a suggestion…"

He liked where this was going. Remembering the image of her silhouette shaping to form All Might and then imitating death, he let his smirk evolve into a grin. "Tell me."

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu could only hope that he would understand. After all, he had intended to kill All Might himself. Hearing her suggestion could only make him like her. At least, that was what she hoped. Her heart was still pounding from geeking out over him, to his face, earlier. If she could make herself sound cool now, she might recover from that intensely nerdy moment.

"If it were me, I'd take off his limbs using four different warp gates. Cauterize the wounds so he won't bleed out. I've done some research and he can't regenerate limbs or organs. He's just strong. That's it. Imagine this, okay? So he can't move, but he's forced to watch the world struggle with his absence. No one knows where he is, no one can find him; everyone's in a panic."

Seeing him nod, she was urged to continue. "What you do then…" She bit back a giggle as her excitement began to grow. "You show him his own severed limbs, make him watch you cut away piece by piece, and Kurogiri uses his quirk to distribute them around Japan. So pieces of All Might are showing up, but no one can pinpoint where he is. No one knows if he's alive. Just cut away at him until he's finally dead. And then…" Kugutsu released an incredibly embarrassing high-pitched laugh and had to take a moment to calm herself enough to keep talking. Tears were brimming at the corners of her eyes now. "You take his rotting head, with his mouth stapled to form that stupid smile of his, and you warp it to the gate in front of UA! So that everyone can see it! Imagine that! The severed, rotting head of the symbol of peace perched on the gate of the school he teaches at! Can you _imagine_ how people would react?! It'd be amazing!"

In her excitement, Kugutsu had begun to hop up and down a little. The high from explaining this horrific, morbid idea was sending adrenaline surging through her veins. The shadows around her were dancing and twitching, but she was too distracted to notice. Too distracted by the look of satisfaction that crossed Shigaraki's face.

"You're psychotic," he finally remarked. The villain scratched his neck for a moment, grinning down at her. He lifted his free hand and, keeping a finger raised, set it down on top of her head.

Her pulse skipped a beat, as it had when he did this before, and she bit her lower lip to keep herself from squealing in delight. _He liked my idea though! He didn't call me creepy or lame! I think he really like it!_

"You hate his smile, don't you? You hate All Might with every fiber of your being." It seemed that her excitement was contagious because his voice echoed her enthusiasm. The villain's eyes met hers and displayed immense pleasure. "My loyal fan girl hates what I hate. I like your idea."

"You do?!"

He saw her hips kind of wiggle in her moment of happiness, but chose not to acknowledge how it looked sort of like she was trying to wag a tail that was not there. "Yeah."

Kugutsu was about to launch into another idea she had, but the sound of her stomach growling stopped her. Looking away in embarrassment, she quietly swore. They had left the mah-jongg bar shortly after her arrival, leaving the takeout with Kurogiri. _I haven't eaten since this morning. I only had tea when I was with Chisaki-san. This is so embarrassing! Uncool! Damn it!_

Shigaraki drew his hand away from her hair and looked toward a stand in the distance. "Go get food. Your stomach's annoying."

"Alright. Um…I'll hurry back!" She jogged down the sidewalk to the stand to get food for both of them and eventually found Shigaraki sitting on a bench in a less busy area. _Of course. Why would Shigaraki want to be stuck hanging around a bunch of mouth-breathers like some common lowlife?! Ugh! I should've taken him somewhere nice, but I was so distracted! I'm just…so excited! He wanted to see me today! He asked for Giran-san to send me!_

Kugutsu watched him from the corner of her eye as she ate, barely even paying attention to her food. He looked slightly annoyed by the food she had brought, but he still ate it. Pulse pounding in her ears, she had to tear her gaze away from him when he looked over.

"Why are you dressed up like you went on a date?"

She jolted and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think of a response. There was no way that she could tell him she had inadvertently gone to a job interview with a yakuza leader. _An attractive yakuza leader. An attractive yakuza leader that sees potential in me and thinks I have what it takes to basically be a villain! I still can't believe it!_

"I had to go to a meeting and Giran-san said I should dress nice," she answered. "I…hate dressing up though. I'm sorry I look like this." A thought suddenly occurred to her. _I still look like I'm on a date. I look like I'm on a date with Shigaraki-san! _This made her stomach start to twist in knots and she found herself quickly becoming self-conscious.

He finished his food and said nothing when she took the empty container from him. Scratching at his neck again, he seemed almost irritated. "Give me your number," he muttered, not looking at her.

"Wh-what? My cellphone number?" Kugutsu was already digging in her bag for her phone, heart pounding faster and faster. The phone almost slid out of her hand because her palms were starting to sweat. _He wants my number?!_

"When I want to see you, I'm calling you. I'm not going through Giran every time," the villain explained, his irritation clear. He put her number into his own phone and narrowed his eyes upon her. Shigaraki saw her struggling to hide a smile behind her hand.

S_higaraki-san wanted my number! I can't believe it! This is so cool!_ Kugutsu's left ear twitched when she heard him put his phone away and she turned to look. Despite sounding so annoyed, he seemed pleased with the exchange.

"If I call you," he started, pausing to scratch his neck. "I want you to answer. Don't ignore me."

"I-I wouldn't! I'd never-! I mean, if you call, I'll pick up right away!" she assured him. Her face was burning pink and the shadows around her were all dancing and swaying now. _Why? I'm usually so good at controlling my emotions, but even just thinking about Shigaraki-san makes me lose control!_

He nodded, pleased with her answer. "You really are a loyal fan."


	10. Chapter 10

NeonHorizon: I really wanted this chapter to be cool, but since it involves Kugutsu, that's not really possible! It's still pretty special though!

* * *

_I wonder if All Might's fans are as loyal as mine._ He scratched viciously at his neck, eyes narrowing on the computer screen as he clicked the mouse. The game used to entertain him, but without someone to play against or someone to play with, it was quickly starting to bore him.

He paused in his scratching and looked at his phone. Kugutsu's phone number was in there. If Shigaraki called her, she would probably rush to his side. She was a loyal fan. More loyal than any serial killer's fan or movie star's fan. She had recruited villains just for him, gave up any of her games that he showed even a little interest in, and she even named her best Pokémon after him.

Satisfied that no All Might fan would go to these lengths, his lower lip twitched at the corner. Shigaraki saved the game's progress and sat back in his chair, his eyes going back to the phone. It had been a few days. He could only imagine her reaction if he called her now.

She would probably perk those ridiculous cat ears forward and wiggle her hips in that bizarre way she had when she described killing All Might. _The only girl who could get that excited about murder_, he thought as his mouth drew into a grin. _I should call her. I'm feeling generous right now. It would like giving her a reward for her loyalty._

It rang five times before she picked up. Each ring made him slightly more irritated. The longer she took to answer, the more it felt like he was being pushed aside. Like something more important was happening. Like maybe she was on a date. Or worse. She might be fangirling over some other villain.

"Sh-Shigaraki-san?!" That quiet, melodic voice greeted him and was filled with surprise. In the background, there was a loud thudding sound that was accompanied by nauseating splatters and dripping.

"Come here." He was not about to say that he wanted to see her. This was supposed to be a treat for Kugutsu; as if he was doing her a favor. After all, she was his fan. What kind of fan would turn down the chance to see the object of their admiration? _She'd have to be stupid to say no._

"I'm…kind of busy right now! I'm sorry!" There was a grunt of pain from the other villain and then a sharp cry. "I'll try to hurry!"

"I said to come here. You think I'll wait around for you all day? You think I don't have stuff to do? I don't need you to entertain me." Shigaraki had started to feel like a weight was lifting when he heard her voice, but now he was getting annoyed again. "I thought you were a loyal fan."

"I-I am! Shigaraki-san, I'll be there as soon as I can! I promise!" Kugutsu released a gasp and there was a louder thud. She whimpered quietly for a moment and then seemed to forget that she was on the phone. "It's _your_ fault! He's going to hate me now! Are you _happy_?! This is _your_ fault! Shigaraki-san wants to see me and you're making me waste his time!"

Oddly satisfied now, he decided to end the call. Shigaraki chewed at his lip, mulling over her words. She sounded so desperate, so frustrated. Clearly, she really wanted to see him again. This was important to her. Still. She was doing something else and she planned to finish whatever it was before she made her way to him. She was going to make him wait.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu did her best. She really did. Her opponents were dead, Giran's payment was forcibly removed from their collective wallets, and she was now sprinting down the alley at full speed to try to get back to the office.

_Shigaraki-san wants to see me! I can't make him wait too long! But there's no way in hell I can let him see me like this!_ Blood was drying in her hair, on her clothes, and on her face. She knew that she looked like an absolute maniac and if she went to him like this, he would definitely notice and definitely be disgusted.

"Giran-san, here's your money! I'm in a hurry!" she shouted, dropping the yen notes as she sprinted through the office to her room.

It took longer than she would have liked to get the gooey congealed blood clumps out of her hair, but she finally managed it and threw on whatever clothes she could find before running off again. As she ran, she rummaged around in her bag. _Phone, wallet, keys, games, console._ _Where is it?! Damn it! Don't tell me-! Oh! Here it is!_

She closed her fingers around the gift she got for him. It was just something small, but it was a token of her admiration for Shigaraki. Something that she hoped he would like. Something he might appreciate. She just really wanted him to know how special he was to her.

When she finally reached the bar, the sun had set. Given, she had gone out on the errand for Giran kind of late in the evening. She had to use the alley entrance and went first into the bar itself. Empty. Kurogiri was nowhere to be found and it was silent.

_I let him down…_Kugutsu set the gift down on the counter, grimacing and shaking her head. _I let him down! Shigaraki-san wanted to see me and I just __**had**__ to finish my job! He probably hates me now!_ She ruffled at her hair, gritting her teeth and trying to keep herself calm.

The thought of the villain hating her was unbearable. It felt like a stake was being driven into her heart. Like she was a vampire being exposed to sunlight; crumbling away into dust. She looked at the gift and gripped it with a white-knuckled hand. _This stupid thing. He probably wouldn't have liked it anyway. What was I thinking? He deserves better than this!_

Kugutsu was about to throw it on the floor, wanting nothing more than to stomp on the thing, but four fingers closed around her wrist to stop her. Every muscle seemed to tense up at the sensation of those fingers tightening on her wrist and she started to tremble with nervousness. "Sh-Shigaraki-san?"

"What kind of psycho breaks stuff in someone else's hideout?"

She heard his voice come from beside her right ear and it sent a shiver down her spine. Warmth bloomed in her cheeks and she looked over her shoulder. The second that her eyes met his cold red ones, Kugutsu's pulse began to beat at a terrifyingly fast pace. _He's so close…he's right behind me! I can feel him against my back! _She was so nervous, so excited, that she felt like she might start giggling.

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes, but soon turned his attention from her ridiculous expression to the item in her hand. "What is that?"

Kugutsu tried to turn to face him. She really wanted to show him the proper respect and attempt eye contact while she talked to him so she could stop coming across as a socially inept gremlin. He kept a grip on her wrist and, instead of letting her explain first, plucked the item from her hand.

The villain stared at the charm for a moment, clearly perplexed. "What is this?" He held it closer to her face, more or less leaning over her from behind.

"It's…ah…well I got it for you. It's supposed to be a charm for success. I just wanted to show you…I support you. And I thought that it looked kind of cool." Twisting to look up at him, she could feel her heart racing faster.

Without a word about it, he shoved the charm into his pocket. Releasing her wrist, he turned away and began walking toward the door that led to the back passage. Shigaraki made it to the door before realizing that his fan was still standing near the counter. He glared at her over his shoulder and scratched at his neck. "You're going to keep making me wait?"

"Sorry!" Kugutsu jogged to catch up to him, her mood lifting a little. It kind of seemed like he was mad at first, but now he was acting calmer. Still, she hated to irritate him. At the back of her mind, she still remembered him saying that he would kill her if she annoyed him too much.

_That wouldn't even be that bad_, she mused. _Dying happens. Everyone dies. Why not be killed by a cool villain? But I still don't want to annoy him._

She followed him into his room and tilted her head when she saw the set up. There was a game title screen on the computer and he had dragged a seat from the bar into the room to put beside his. He settled into his own chair and gave her an expectant stare until she sat next to him.

"What were you doing anyway?" he asked, starting the game.

Her left ear twitched, head still tilted as she watched him start playing. "Giran-san needed me to collect some payment. And then I had to stop at the office to wash off. I got covered in blood." Kugutsu absently rubbed at the back of her neck, embarrassed at mentioning her shower. _So uncool. So awkward. Why am I like this? Why can't I just stay calm? Whenever I'm around him, I lose control!_

"The next time I tell you to come here, just come here. You shouldn't make me wait. I thought you were a loyal fan."

"I _am_!" She flushed red and turned her face away, ears flattening against her head in shame. "I mean…I really admire you, Shigaraki-san. I l-like you. A lot. I was hoping you'd call! So, um, I wanted to be here sooner, but my job…I really had to finish doing that for Giran-san. I really wanted to see you and…um…"

Trying to explain herself just made her sound more like a stalker. Like she was obsessed with him. Of course, a normal person probably would only search a person's name online once a day at the most; not two dozen times. They probably would maintain a healthy distance and not save every single image they could find of their object of admiration in a folder on their laptop.

"Why are you so obsessed with working for him? He's basically a NPC."

Shigaraki continued to talk, more or less grumbling about Giran, but Kugutsu's attention wandered from his words. She had turned to watch him play the game when she recovered from her embarrassment, but now her eyes were drawn away from the screen.

She was staring at his lips now. The dry, scarred lips of her object of admiration. They moved as he proceeded to tell her that she needed to get to him faster the next time he said to come to him. Kugutsu leaned towards him just a little, head at a tilt like a curious cat watching a larger cat pounce on prey.

_Why? I can't look away._ She put her hands on her legs, trying to keep her emotions under control. However, there was now an urge eating away at her. A terrible urge that would definitely get her face disintegrated if she even attempted to satisfy it. Kugutsu stared at his lips and found herself desperately wanting to know what they felt like.

Biting at her own lip, she looked at his scar and at the mole beneath his lower lip on one side. Kugutsu was now fighting with herself. She wanted to touch him, but if she did then she would most likely just make him angry. _He's a real villain! I'm just a broker's assistant; I don't have any business touching him! But I really, really want to!_

She tried to weigh her options. Just reaching over and running her fingertip over his lips would one hundred percent end badly. He would be confused and irritated. He might even push her away from him. _I don't want to piss him off. The only other option…_Just the thought of it made her bite her lip harder to suppress a nervous giggle and she looked down. _No! No way! I couldn't do that! I'm just a fan! I mean, I admire him! I don't feel that way, do I?_

Again, she found herself looking at his face. The blood colored eyes, narrowed in concentration. The slightly dry, almost wrinkled skin around his eyes. The intense way he pressed his lips into a tight, firm line as he concentrated on the game. When he abruptly shifted in his seat, his knee pressed tight against hers and he seemed to not notice.

The contact made her pulse grow faster, sweat forming on her palms. She wiped her hands on her thighs. Her heart felt bubbly, warm. Like a cauldron about to boil over. She started to fear that her heart really would bubble over and she would lose control. Just the thought of leaning over and pressing her lips against his to know what he felt like sent her into a bizarre, blissful panic.

Kugutsu was so intensely focused on not trying to force a kiss on him that she was jolted violently back into reality when a hand rested on her head. A glance toward the screen showed that he had paused the game. Fingers moved over her hair in an almost petting sort of motion before they found her left ear.

**Shift P.O.V**

He was unsure of what he expected, but Shigaraki was surprised when she started to purr. The urge had been bothering him for a while. Ever since he patted her on the head, he had wanted to feel her weird, feline ears. They were almost silky in texture.

A smirk tugged at his lips as he watched her reflection on the screen. Her eyes were half-closed in a blissful expression. "My loyal fan girl." She gave a nod, accompanied by a vibrant pink shade rising to her face. "You'd do anything for me."

Kugutsu bit her lower lip to try to stop purring. She seemed just as surprised as he was when she began doing it. Wiggling a bit in her seat, she leaned closer to him. A hand hesitantly settled on the edge of her seat and she seemed like she was about to get closer, but then she leaned away. "…sorry…"

"What were you trying to do?" he demanded.

"I…" The girl turned away, closing her eyes. A hand lifted and she began to chew at her thumbnail. "I'm sorry. I think I might…" She bowed her head a little now. "I-I think I like you…more than a fan should!" Kugutsu blurted out. "I…I wanted to…kiss you, but…n-no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I have to go!"

He watched her run from the room and heard her trip on her way out, smacking into the wall. Scratching his neck, he frowned. Her panicked confession left him with something new to consider. His fan might actually love him.


	11. Chapter 11

NeonHorizon: I rewrote this chapter.

* * *

Giran's voice felt like it was booming in the otherwise silent alley. Kugutsu winced, her ears ringing and head throbbing. She lowered her shadow shield ever so slightly and peered out at the alley. Catlike ears swiveled, trying to pick up any sounds that might tell her where her attackers currently were.

No one else had entered the alley, but she still lifted her shield. It was more like a shell. A curved shell of darkness that was currently her only protection from the yakuza men who had not taken kindly to her decision to not join them. Although, in her defense, there had clearly been a breakdown in communication since the impromptu job interview had come as such a surprise.

"I said…I need help," she repeated, her voice low. "Giran-san, I messed up."

"It can't be that bad."

"It's pretty bad! I'm in an alley, hiding from some yakuza!"

Hearing the desperation and fear in her voice, Giran grew serious. As rare as it was for her to show excitement, it was even rarer that she showed any kind of real fear. This was fear "for your life" fear. This was "does alcohol make this medication poisonous?" fear.

"Send me your location and don't move, okay? I'm going to send someone to get you. I'll have to move everything out of office. What a pain!"

"I'm sorry…"

The man sighed, frustrated yet somehow sounding slightly relieved. "Hey, you're okay, right? Nothing broken? No stab wounds?" He tried to sound like he was joking, but it was clear from his tone that he was worried.

"…just a little banged up…should see what I did to them…"

"Alright. Location, got it? Shouldn't take them long to get to you."

With the call ended, Kugutsu now found herself feeling more alone than before. Standing in a dark, cold alley. Shivering and bruised. With only her shadows to keep her company. The brick wall behind her made her feel even colder so she was standing around two feet in front of it to keep away from the chill and to watch for her enemies.

_Why do I do this? Why did I think I could be a broker like Giran-san? I got so excited that I didn't even think about the danger. _She bit her lip, tasting blood, and ruffled her scruffy black hair. Her clothes were a bit torn, her once tidy hair was back to its usual disarray. The meeting was supposed to be a quick, polite decline, but it had escalated into a near bloodbath with civilian casualties.

_Giran-san said we have to move the office, right? What if we have to totally leave the country? I'll never see Shigaraki-san again! Damn it! Why did I do something so stupid?!_ The dark shell tightened around her, spikes forming on the outside of it as an extra layer of protection. Even if someone saw it, the second they approached she would be able to extend the spikes into their bodies. _I just need to stay here. Everything will be okay._

She took a deep breath, trying to settle down, but her heart was racing and her stomach was twisting in guilty knots. She felt like she might vomit. The worst part of all of this was the fear of dying. The men she had faced that day were some of the strongest she had ever fought. _I might die and my last words to Shigaraki-san was that I wanted to kiss him! How lame can I get?!_

**Shift P.O.V**

He passively watched Kurogiri while he attempted to stack the cards into a house-like shape. So far, he had managed a pyramid shape and an igloo shape. Not exactly the most exciting way to kill time, but he was starting to get bored of everything else.

The shadowy man behind the counter answered a call and seemed to nod, but it was super hard to tell because his head was basically just a big shifting patch of darkness with eyes. Those eyes turned to Shigaraki now as he continued to talk. "I'm sure he won't mind," Kurogiri said, staring directly at the villain.

A warp gate opened in the middle of the bar, drawing Shigaraki's attention. He slid off of his seat and looked from it to Kurogiri. "What's this?" he demanded, scratching along his neck in irritation.

"Kugutsu needs to be rescued." There was a really weird hint of amusement in Kurogiri's tone as he said this. As if this was a setup. As if this was a big practical joke being played on Shigaraki.

Not about to be toyed with, he hesitated to approach the warp gate. _It's just some stupid joke. Why would she put herself in danger? My fan girl's smarter than that. _He frowned and chewed at his dry lower lip, waiting for some kind of punchline to the joke or some disappointed reaction from Kurogiri. There was nothing. He just kept staring at Shigaraki like a cat waiting for a glass full of water to hit the ground and shatter.

Now he was more than just bored and frustrated. His fan girl, his one and only fan girl, might actually be in some life-threatening danger. He leaned in through the warp gate and almost wanted to turn back.

Sure enough, Kugutsu was standing in a cold, dark alley with her back to the warp gate. She was trembling and he could see a bit of dried blood on her shirt. _I'm not in the mood for this_, he grumbled to himself. _Why do you have to make me do this? You're my fan. You're supposed to do stuff for me._

He gripped the collar of her shirt from behind and pulled, hard. The other villain yelped sharply and tumbled backwards, her shadowy shield falling in her surprise. Shigaraki moved back quickly to avoid her crashing into him and watched her fall onto her back on the hard floor. The warp gate closed now that she was in the bar and Kurogiri's eyes narrowed as if he might be attempting to not chuckle.

The girl blinked up at Shigaraki in alarm and her cheeks went bright pink. Kugutsu swiftly pushed herself to sit up, running her fingers through her hair again and again as she tried to calm down. "Um…th-thank you," she finally mumbled when she seemed to have her wits about her again.

"I just saved your life, didn't I? And that's the best you can do?" He glared down at her now slouching figure. "What kind of fan makes their idol save them?"

"Ngh…I didn't…mean for things to go bad." She avoided looking him in the eye as if she was avoiding the critical glare of a disapproving deity.

Seeing her look so disappointed, hearing her sound so desperate for his forgiveness, he felt it returning. That rush of blood, that hard and fast beating of his heart, the urge to grin. Shigaraki approached her and set a hand on top of her head, carefully keeping a finger extended. He let her hair run between his fingers before moving on to do what he really wanted.

Fingertips grazed her left ear and instantly brought both of her feline ears perked forward. She half-closed her eyes and lifted a hand to cover her mouth as the purring began. Mixing this with the way her face gradually darkened from pink to red, he found himself pleased.

"She's injured. Giran said that she was in a fight," Kurogiri finally spoke up.

"She's fine." Shigaraki continued to stare down at her, his chapped lips drawing back into a grin. "Aren't you?"

"…I'm fine…" she agreed, her words a bit muffled.

"Let's go. I was going to call for you anyway. Since I saved you, you can make yourself useful and entertain me." His fingers rubbed behind her left ear a bit more before he drew his hand away and began walking off.

**Shift P.O.V**

She saw him disappear into the passage that led to his room and the alley entrance, but hesitated to follow him. _I purred. Right in front of him. Like some kind of attention-starved stray cat. How can I face someone that cool after doing something so lame?_

"Kugutsu. It would be in your best interest to remain here for a while. I understand that you're being pursued by a group of people."

The girl turned to look at Kurogiri, still nauseatingly embarrassed. She had almost forgotten that there was a one-man audience there to witness her purring like a desperate animal over Shigaraki's slight show of affection. "Ah…yes, sir. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not at all." He reached beneath the counter and brought forth a small glass and a bottle of hard liquor. Pouring some of the beverage into the glass, he continued to speak. "Shigaraki Tomura seems to enjoy your company a lot. I would almost wonder if he's fond of you." Screwing the cap back on, he appeared to be staring at her. "How are you injuries?"

"They're…actually not that bad," she explained. "Um…you said…h-he might… well, I mean…" Kugutsu anxiously chewed at her thumbnail, face feeling unbearably warm at the thought of Shigaraki potentially liking her the way she seemed to like him. _I wanted to kiss him the last time we were hanging out together! That's not normal for a fan, is it? That's more like a crush._

Kurogiri slid the glass of liquor toward her, eyes narrowing. "Some liquid courage for you, Kugutsu. You look like you could use some."

_What do I need courage for?_ Nonetheless, she downed the liquor and half-closed her eyes as it burned her throat. It pooled warmly in her stomach, but she did feel a little bit better. Slightly less afraid of embarrassing herself again, at the very least.

_Fell onto my back like some kind of fool_, she thought with a grimace. Ruffling her hair, she proceeded to follow Shigaraki. _Just stay calm. Be cool. I don't know if I can actually recover from purring in front of them both, but I have to try!_

In his room, he already had a handheld console out and appeared to be waiting for her to get hers out of her bag. The spare chair was still in the room, but he had decided to sit on the floor for some reason. Not about to let herself come across as any more awkward than she already did, Kugutsu settled beside him, but left some room between them.

The game was a multiplayer RPG. The goal was to team up and get through as many dungeons as possible, collecting items that Shigaraki needed for some quests. Kugutsu had already completed the quests, but she was happy to help him however she could.

It was all great for a while. His mood seemed to lift and he moved closer so his leg was touching hers. She probably made some creepy, yandere-like faces when this happened, but that was normal. After all, she was his fan. _What fan wouldn't be excited about this? And he really does seem like he likes this._

Then fatigue hit. She had used her quirk a lot when she was fighting the yakuza members and she had taken a beating in the fight. It weighed down on her like a heavy blanket and threatened to pull down her eyelids and force her to sleep. Kugutsu fought it to the best of her ability; blinking rapidly and looking over at Shigaraki in the hopes that her racing heart would keep her awake.

_If I pass out now, I'll look like such a weakling. He'll think I'm stupid. And I guess I kind of am._ She yawned and tried to focus her gaze on the screen, but her vision was getting blurry. Worse yet, the alcohol was starting to hit her. "You're…really cool," she muttered.

The game was paused. Apparently the slurred words drew his attention. "What are you saying?"

"You're…really cool and I just…wanted you to know that. I look at you and I just…can't believe you wanna hang out with a nobody like me. You're cool and you're cute and I just wanna kiss you!" Kugutsu laughed, sounding a bit delirious. "I'm sorry. Kinda forward. I'm so tired…"

"…shut up…" He scratched his neck, teeth sinking into his lower lip as he looked over at her. "You're my fan girl. Of course you think I'm cool."

**Shift P.O.V**

On the outside, he was displaying his usual cold mannerisms. On the inside, he could feel his heart beating hard and fast in his chest. She wanted to kiss him. It was an absurd thought, but she liked him so much that he not only occupied her every thought; she wanted to kiss him. She might even be in love with him.

It was a weird thing to think about. Girls usually seemed put off by him or avoided him, but then Kugutsu was far from normal so she must be the exception. As he considered this, she fell heavily against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. Her breathing had quieted now and her eyes were closed.

She felt so warm against his shoulder. The tip of her ear tickled against his cheek when she nuzzled against him, purring softly in her sleep. Shigaraki sat completely still as she settled in, waiting with a frown. When she finally stopped moving around, he reached over to stroke behind her ear without saying a word.

Soft. Warm. Comforting. Nourishing. Something that he wanted always. Kugutsu was quickly becoming important to him in a way he had not thought possible. And after her fight earlier that day and the damage she had taken, he was able to determine something. The next person to join the League of Villains would have to be her.

Shigaraki drew his hand away from her ear, resuming his game. Her character had been slain so she would be of little use now even if he did wake her up. _My fan girl. You shouldn't work for someone else anyway; you should work for me. If you're so loyal, why don't you show me by joining_?

Kugutsu moved in her sleep and what happened next left him momentarily stunned. Shigaraki's eyes widened as a soft pair of lips brushed along the side of his neck. Every muscle tensed, feeling her press closer against his side. Warm euphoria rushed through him, yet he maintained his frown. She was still asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

There was a warm weight against his side when he woke up and when he opened his eyes, he grimaced. Shigaraki rubbed at his eyes with one hand, lifting his console with the other. It was dead. Looking at the source of the warmth at his side, he slowly remembered what had happened the night before.

Kugutsu's head leaned against his shoulder and a quiet purr could be heard from her as she slept. Her ears twitched a little in her sleep and she subconsciously nuzzled at the side of his neck. This, of course, reminded him of what she did before. She kissed him. Right on the neck. While she was asleep.

_You're such a loyal fan. _His left hand lifted and reached over, fingers rubbing behind her ear. For whatever reason, this brought him a spark of joy. Whether it was due to some underlying desire to pet a cat or if the joy came from being with his fan, he had no idea.

This girl. This fan girl. This psychopath with cat ears. She was devoted to him. She admired him so much that simply being around him brought her pleasure. A call from him made her heart race. Playing a game with him probably gave her butterflies in her stomach. His touch made her ecstatic. It was this last thing that stuck out the most.

Yes, he was being careful not to touch her with all five fingers. However, Kugutsu was aware of his quirk. If he wanted to, he could kill her with minimal effort. Yet she wanted to get close to him. She even purred when he touched her. No one had ever been so happy and eager for him to touch them.

Shigaraki looked down at her hands. She was still loosely holding her own game console, her fingernails shining obsidian in the dim light in the room. His fingers left her head and he reached down, easing one of her hands into his own. Her fingers were slender and delicate-looking. Like they would snap easily. They rested lightly in his palm for a moment as he examined them.

_What can you even do with these? You can't hold a weapon. If you didn't have that quirk, you'd be dead._ He grumbled quietly and almost wanted to dig his nails into her palm, but stopped himself. She was his fan. As loyal as she was, he did not want to risk losing her. After all, she gave him such a confidence boost when she said how cool he was.

Leaning back against the wall, he let her hand drop so he could scratch his neck. Kugutsu's hand fell onto his knee, resting there with her fingers curled slightly inward. _Why're you so weak anyway? Your quirk could make you a good villain and you're just messing around, pretending to be a broker like Giran. What's so great about him anyway? Why would you want to be like him?_

"Shigaraki Tomura, our master is asking to speak with you." Kurogiri's voice penetrated the door and made the villain's scowl deepen. "Is Kugutsu in there with you? I haven't seen her since she arrived."

"She's my fan. Why wouldn't she be with me?" he muttered. Chewing at his lower lip, he looked down to her face. She looked almost like a normal girl when she slept. Not at all like the bloodthirsty broker's assistant that killed just for the thrill of it. His fan. His one and only fan.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu woke up on the floor, alone, curled up in a ball with two handheld consoles sitting in front of her. She rubbed at her eyes and glanced around, adrenaline rushing through her veins when she realized that this was definitely not her room back at the office. There was no sign of her dark humor posters or her "death before decaf" coffee mug.

Slowly, she remembered the night's events and breathed a sigh of relief. Her initial fear was that she might have gotten drunk and wandered into someone's home again. _This is…Shigaraki's room_, she reminded herself. _Where did he go?_

"Good morning, Kugutsu." Kurogiri greeted her from behind the counter when she entered the bar. He reached for something beneath the counter and produced something that looked really weird when held by him. A cold, blended coffee with whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzled on top. Alongside this was a simple muffin studded with various berries.

"…morning…" she murmured, glancing over her shoulder. "Ah…Shigaraki-san is..?" She approached the counter, hoping to hear that he would be back soon.

"Shigaraki Tomura had to speak with our master and then he went out."

"Ah. Right. He's probably busy." She half-smiled and looked to the weird coffee again. "I didn't think you were the kind of person that would drink something like that."

The cup and muffin were pushed toward her from across the counter. Kurogiri's expression was one hundred percent unreadable within that ever moving darkness that seemed to be his face. "I was unsure of what you would like so I contacted Giran and was told that you like sweet things."

_Well that's embarrassing. Now I look even lamer._ Kugutsu slid onto a seat and slouched there, reaching for the deliciously unhealthy-looking breakfast. "Thank you, Kurogiri-san."

The black, shifting figure that was the villain seemed to nod, but it was incredibly difficult to be sure. It was like trying to see shapes in a cigarette's smoke. Something she had actually done a few times when she was bored in the office and Giran chain smoked. It usually annoyed him enough to eventually make him stop polluting her air.

_Shigaraki-san is meeting with All for One. That's…really cool. It must be awesome to be a real villain. To be able to talk to someone as powerful as him._ Remembering the night before, she remembered how it felt when he petted her ears and she half-closed her eyes. A smile was curving her lips as she took a sip of the sugary coffee Kurogiri had given to her.

The villain across from her was now cleaning a glass and seemed to realize almost immediately that she was staring at him. Specifically at his misty, dark appendages that were presumably his hands. "Did you need something?"

"You…have hands, Kurogiri-san?"

His eyes narrowed a little. He might have been looking down at his hands. He might have been frowning or smiling. There was absolutely no way of telling. "Yes. I have hands." Kurogiri apparently found it more amusing than annoying and set a hand down on the countertop.

_That's a hand? But…I seriously can't even tell._ She reached out with a fingertip to poke the top of his hand and found it was solid, despite looking like it was made of mist. Kugutsu stared intently and let three fingertips prod at his hand, entertained by how the mist billowed around her own hand.

Kurogiri tolerated this for a while; just watching her poke at his hand. When he finally spoke, his words made her frown. "You seem calmer now."

Her ears drew back and she shrugged. "I'm…usually good at controlling my emotions," she started. "My quirk gets dangerous if I get too excited or angry. I've had a lot of practice with keeping calm when I need to."

"Around Shigaraki Tomura, you get excited."

She slouched a bit, eyes shifting away from him to the wall as she continued to halfheartedly solve the bizarre mystery of how Kurogiri's misty appendage was actually a solid hand. "Shigaraki-san…makes me lose control," she admitted. "When I'm around him, I get excited and I get…really happy."

"Why do you want to be a broker?" Kurogiri's eyes narrowed again as he noticed her poking a fingertip between his fingers and staring down in wonder.

"Actually…I'd rather be a villain." Upon saying this, a hint of pink rose to her face. "Villains are cool. They don't have to live by anyone else's rules. They don't have to conform to society's ideals or follow the norm. I've wanted to become a villain since I was around twelve years old."

"So why don't you become a villain?"

"I couldn't! I mean…I don't have what it takes. My quirk is okay for Giran-san's little jobs or protecting myself on the street, but it isn't good enough for me to be a real villain. Your quirk is cool. It's really useful and it's great for a villain. Shigaraki-san's quirk is amazing! Mine is just…"shadow play". It's lame."

Kurogiri turned slightly for a moment before turning back to her. It was so slight that she assumed he was just changing his position. "Why are yakuza pursuing you? Giran never explained that."

**Shift P.O.V**

_What is she doing?_ He watched Kugutsu's fingers run along the back of Kurogiri's hand and felt his irritation beginning to turn to anger. His fan girl was touching someone else. Staring at someone else. _She's supposed to be __**my**__ fan._

Shigaraki's nails dug into his neck, tearing at his skin and leaving red lines in their wake. There was a faint moistness on one fingertip so he was probably bleeding a little, but he was too angry to stop himself from scratching. He could barely hear them talking. Not that it mattered. He saw how pink her face was turning and that made it clear enough.

_She's some kind of villain groupie_, he thought bitterly. _She just likes villains. I bet it doesn't even matter who she's with as long as they're a villain. I should've known. Just a pathetic groupie._

"Why are yakuza pursuing you? Giran never explained that."

Kurogiri's voice was louder now and Shigaraki scowled. He picked at the dry skin of his lower lip with a fingernail, feeling as though Kurogiri was trying to set him up. _What's he trying to do?_

"They…wanted me to join."

"A yakuza is somewhat similar to a villain. I'm sure the pay would be good."

"I guess, but I turned them down. And they really didn't like it." Kugutsu drew her hands to grip the coffee cup in front of her. "I turned them down because…if I joined them, I couldn't see Shigaraki-san anymore. And when I think about not being able to see him…it makes me feel panicky. Like I can't breathe. Like I'm being crushed by something."

_Panicky…?_ He glared at her from where he remained hidden. She was no longer touching Kurogiri. Her face was no longer pink. In fact, she looked almost pale. Like she was afraid. Like the thought of not seeing him filled her with dread.

"That's pretty dumb, right? I probably sound like such a _loser_, talking like that." She lifted a hand, chewing at the skin around her thumbnail as she looked down at the coffee in front of her. "I mean, you asked me before why I don't try to become a villain. This is part of it. I'm so lame compared to real villains. What kind of villain would get this upset about not seeing someone? It's ridiculous."

"It's love." Kurogiri began wiping a glass, apparently abruptly remembering that this was a bar and he had bar-like tasks to take care of. Despite their complete lack of customers. "Plenty of villains have loved ones, Kugutsu Kurayami."

That word had some effect on him. Shigaraki had considered it before; his fan girl might actually love him. However, hearing Kurogiri say it made it seem more realistic. And the possibility that this girl, that this psychopath with cat ears, was in love with him, brought on some absurd effects.

His chest hurt a little as palpitations began and he grimaced, biting at his lip. Scratching his neck brought him no reassurance now. His eyes locked on Kugutsu as he felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. An absurd tingle. A flutter. It pissed him off to feel this, but it was really his first time ever feeling it.

With these physical symptoms came a rush of euphoria that left him feeling how he assumed it probably felt to feel high. Satisfaction. Pleasure. Pride. Confidence. _My fan girl's in love with me. What do I do now?_ Suddenly, he was quite glad that he had made a particular request to his master that morning.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu was sipping her sweet coffee when she heard the door open. Kurogiri greeted the blue-haired villain and asked how his talk went, but Shigaraki seemed to be ignoring his question. The seat beside hers was suddenly occupied and she felt her face burning as she saw him face her, leaning over with an arm resting on the counter.

"…g-good morning…" She winced at how weak her voice sounded and silently cursed herself. Now that Kurogiri had suggested she might be in love, it was all she could think about it and it made her hate herself. _I'm lame. I'm so lame. What kind of loser falls in love?_

A hand reached for her coffee and slid it away from her, keeping a finger extended from the cup. As Kugutsu watched, the villain sipped from her straw and then eyed the muffin that had been left untouched in front of her. Kurogiri broke it in half without a word and set half of it on a napkin for the villain.

_He…drank from the same straw as me? _Kugutsu's stomach did a flip at the realization that they had just shared an indirect kiss. _He's so cool though. He's acting like it's no big deal._

"You should quit working for Giran," Shigaraki finally spoke up. He broke off a little bit of his half of the muffin and chewed on it as he considered his next words. "You're my fan girl. You should work for me. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I-I'd love that!" she blurted out without thinking. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she looked away from him in embarrassment.

"Quit your job. Join the League of Villains."


	13. Chapter 13

NeonHorizon: If you follow my Twitter, you probably know that I've been having a pretty rough time lately. I needed this chapter. Shigaraki romance, in its weird, twisted, unique way.

* * *

_Am I…in love?_ Kugutsu had a lot to process, of course. After all, Shigaraki had basically offered to make her dreams come true. However, she was hesitant to immediately agree. First, before she could even consider quitting her job and becoming a real villain, she needed to mull over what Kurogiri had said.

When he suggested she was in love, she felt her dark, twisted little heart skip a beat. The idea of being in love made her feel happy, of course, but she also felt a little guilty. In her mind, she had no chance of Shigaraki ever loving her. He was All for One's champion. He had so much potential and his quirk was so much better than hers.

_He deserves someone awesome_, she thought as she walked with Giran. Chewing on her lower lip, she was having difficulty hiding her emotions. The inner turmoil was too much to contain. _Shigaraki deserves someone a lot prettier, for sure. Someone cool. Someone stronger than me. Someone…that can actually be of use to him._

"You've been pretty quiet since we left the bar, kid. Everything okay?"

She glanced over at Giran and saw him raising an eyebrow. "…I'm fine…"

"You look like something's bothering you." He paused, expecting some sort of answer. She was silent now. Her head was down, a hand lifted so she could chew at the skin around her thumbnail. He had seen her get this way before and knew better than to push her. "Okay, well, if you want to tell me, I'll be around."

Her eyes narrowed a bit. Despite his nonchalance, she could detect an actual note of concern in his voice. Not that this meant she would tell him. If she told him that she was trying to figure out if she was in love with Shigaraki or not, Giran would laugh at her. She would never live it down.

Her boss showed her around their new office and when they got to the living quarters, he nodded toward her room. "Might want to wash up. You've got something on your cheek." He pointed at his own right cheek, smirking.

Kugutsu wiped at it with the back of her hand, but she knew it was futile. The dried blood was probably ground into her skin since it had been there since her fight with the yakuza. This blood was special, though. Unlike the blood in her hair or on her clothes, this blood belonged to Chisaki Kai. A grin spread across the girl's face as she remembered the horrific injury she had inflicted on him.

**Shift P.O.V**

_She won't say "no". She can't say "no". But why didn't she just give me an answer right away? If she's such a big fan, she should've said "yes"._ Shigaraki glared down at the playing cards from behind "Father", slouching at the bar counter. Across from him, Kurogiri was occupying himself with some mundane bar-related task.

He attempted to stack the cards, having no other way to kill time. His game console was still charging. All of the games on the computer were boring without an audience. He was making decent progress with the card structure, but then they fell. A few fluttered to the floor and he scowled. "When is she coming back?"

"Kugutsu needed to wash off the blood of her enemies," Kurogiri began. "She did have a few injuries that needed bandaged."

"She was fine. She didn't need to go anywhere. She should've just given me her answer." The villain scratched at his neck with one fingernail.

"Are you worried that she might refuse your offer?"

It was beyond complicated to try to convey. Shigaraki fully expected her to say "yes". She was his fan girl. His offer should be a dream come true for her. The thought of her actually refusing the offer had yet to cross his mind. Now that it had, he began to grit his teeth and glare down at the playing cards.

This was more than just simple anger at being turned down. There was a bizarre, foreign sensation setting in. A heaviness in the pit of his stomach. Like dread. Like the anticipation of pain before a blow was dealt. This feeling brought on inevitable feelings of weakness and he despised it. More than that, he despised that his fan girl was making him feel this way.

Kurogiri watched the inner turmoil displaying on Shigaraki's face through his expressions and finally resumed his task of ticking things off on a ledger. "She won't refuse your offer, of course. Shigaraki Tomura, that girl is in love with you."

"Shut up." His nails dug deeper into his neck as he scratched, the anger and anticipation quickly becoming too much to deal with. His heart was doing that super annoying thing again. That thing where it beat way too fast and way too hard so he felt like it might rattle its way out of his chest onto the floor. A humiliating way to die, for sure.

Just thinking about her made him furious and strangely excited at the same time. Lifting his eyes from the cards, he reached a hand up to remove "Father". The disembodied hand was set down on the countertop so he could properly glare at Kurogiri. "What do you know anyway? No one loves you."

The dark, misty villain across from him paused in his task and his glowing yellow eyes seemed to narrow for a moment. "It's those without love that can usually recognize it the quickest. For whatever reason, Kugutsu has fallen in love with you. If you feel the same way, I would advise that you tell her to her face."

There was a much better chance of All Might turning evil before Shigaraki would admit something like that. Not to Kugutsu and certainly not to Kurogiri. He slipped off of his seat, intending to go to his room and check on his game console. A warp gate opened a few feet away and he glanced to Kurogiri.

"If you want to see her, go on," he spoke without looking at Shigaraki again.

If the world was fair, plenty of things would be different. But one thing he was certain about was that the warp gate would have actually brought him to Kugutsu. Not to an office where Giran was now staring at him in a mix of alarm and confusion. "Where is she?"

**Shift P.O.V**

Washing away the blood gave her a sense of refreshment, but she dreaded returning to her decision making. Becoming a villain was all that she had wanted ever since that fateful day when she was twelve. That day when the symbol of peace dragged her kicking and screaming out of the car, just before her family was crushed beneath the weight of the already half-collapsed bridge.

Ruffling her hair with a towel, she closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Just thinking about that smile. That stupid, permanent, **_fake_** smile. She wanted to take a knife to All Might's face and carve it off of him. To show Japan their precious hero with his face disfigured; teeth fully bared, gums shining with blood and drool as tears rolled down his cheeks.

She smirked, tossing the towel onto the floor without a care. Her dream was something that Shigaraki could grant, if she would just agree to join him. Between the two of them, they had enough ambition and enough strength that she was sure they could destroy the man.

Kugutsu's smirk was short-lived as that thought resurfaced. That question of how she really felt about Shigaraki. _I know that normal fans don't feel this way_, she told herself as she looked in the mirror. _Fans don't want to kiss their idol. Fans don't want to be with them every second of the day. They don't purr if their idol pets their ears, like some kind of mangy thing that's never been touched before._

That last thought brought a rush of heat to her face, turning it a vibrant shade of pink. This was not her first crush. She had liked people before. She had even dated people before. Had those relationships been healthy? Possibly. Did they end horribly when she lost interest in them? Absolutely. No one had ever caught her attention so intensely before. No one had drawn so much affection from her before.

So, when she compared her feelings to how she had felt in the past, she could tell that this crush was stronger. And that it was, indeed, a crush. No sane person could continue to deny it after how flustered she became when they shared a straw. Even if she was a little crazy, she was not crazy enough to continue to deny it. She liked him. A lot. So much so that, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if Kurogiri was right.

_Maybe…I love Shigaraki-san?_ Still blushing, she opened the bathroom door to enter her room and froze in her steps. The pink hue on her face shifted to a bright red as her cat-yellow eyes met a pair of narrowed red ones. _What…? What? He's…wait…_Trembling, she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. Her head turned to the side to try to hide her blush and she knew her lips had curved into a large smile.

Honestly, Kugutsu should probably be wondering how Shigaraki got into her room. How he got into the bar. How long he had been sitting there on the edge of her bed, gripping her gaming console, glaring at the bathroom door. Instead of wondering any of these very important things, her twisted mind decided to fixate on something else.

_Shigaraki-san is here! He's in my room! Someone like him…is in my room! I didn't even get to put up my posters yet! It's messy in here!_ Kugutsu glanced toward him and felt a fluttery sort of sensation in her chest and stomach. _He's looking at me! What should I say?!_

"Why're you just standing there?" he grumbled, lowering his eyes to the console again. He clicked a few buttons and then turned it off, tossing it aside. The villain stood, taking a moment to scratch his neck as he resumed staring at her.

"I just…I didn't expect to see you again so soon," she admitted. "B-but I'm happy to see you! I'm…_always_ happy to see you. Sorry. I probably sound really lame." She laughed nervously, still holding a hand over her mouth. The semi-cute, happy smile from before had evolved into a wide yandere-style grin that would, or should, probably make any normal man cringe.

Luckily for her, Shigaraki was no normal man. So when he approached her and grabbed her wrist to pull her hand away, mindful to keep only four fingers in contact with her skin, he was pleased by the girl's expression. Though he maintained his dour grimace, his eyes showed satisfaction. "You didn't give me an answer," he growled. "Why didn't you just answer me? I offered you something great and you just stared at me. What kind of fan does that?"

Her stomach was doing flips, eyes flitting between where he was tightly gripping her wrist to briefly meet his stare. _He's…practically holding my hand!_ Kugutsu struggled to say something. Anything. Even just one word would probably be fine. Instead, she just stared back at him.

His dry, scarred lips curled into a scowl as he stepped forward and moved quickly. Kugutsu's back met the wall beside the bathroom doorway and she winced. He leaned down, eyes narrowed on her when he saw her wince. "Say something. Why do you look so scared? I thought you were a fan. Isn't this what you want? You're my loyal fan girl. So why are you acting like you-?"

"I-I don't…deserve it," she blurted out. Turning her head to the side, she was trembling with excitement from how close he was, but her heart had dropped into her stomach. "I really don't deserve it. I don't deserve to get to work for you! I'm not good enough!"

The villain saw her close her eyes and he began to chew at his lower lip. His hold on her wrist tightened in a silent warning. "You shouldn't care if you're good enough or not. If you're really a fan, you should just want to do it."

"I'm sorry. I'm really…I'm not good enough to be a real villain. I want it. I've wanted to be a villain for a long time! But I don't want to let you down! I **_like_** you! I like you so much and I don't want you to hate me! I don't want to disappoint you!" Kugutsu forced herself to admit all of this.

As soon as these words, these extremely embarrassing truths, left her lips, she knew. _I'm in love with him._ Her heart seemed to lift at the realization and she wanted so desperately to smile, but there was still the matter of the humiliating confession. _I'm in love with him! I'm…in love with Shigaraki-san! I've never felt this way before about anyone! It hurts, but it feels good and I just…wish I could…_

When her head turned toward him, he saw her eyes open. Those sharp yellow eyes looked at him, shining wetly, filled with something that made his irritation start to gradually fade. Not that he was about to tell her anything about how he felt. The villain's thumb rubbed over Kugutsu's wrist as his hold loosened. The lips that she was now staring at drew into a grin that most people probably would consider sinister.

"If you like me so much, you should just quit your job and join me." Leaning down a little closer, he brought his face inches away from hers. The feeling of her soft, freshly washed skin under his thumb was oddly soothing. Eerily soothing.

Her face felt hot and she worried that he might feel the heat emanating from her skin. With his face so close to hers, it would not surprise her. _He's…so close. If I leaned forward, I could probably touch…_Forcing that thought down, trying to get her pulse to slow from its racing pace, Kugutsu gave a nod. "O-okay."

The pleased look he wore made her feel like she might melt. Happiness was bubbling in her veins like carbonation and she felt that urge again. All it would take was a little lean forward and she would be able to feel his lips. His chest was just an inch from hers and when she inhaled, she lightly touched him.

Before she could give in to the urge to kiss her object of affection, Shigaraki stepped back and released her wrist. "Good choice. You'll be my first new member. Aren't you happy?"


	14. Chapter 14

NeonHorizon: Hey, look; more content!

* * *

_Hero killer. Sounds pretty cool. Of course…what would it take to get a guy like that to even talk to someone like me?_ Kugutsu skimmed the article as the train began moving, relaxing into her seat. _Really. He would be a good potential member for the League of Villains._

Yes, she was now a member. However, she was still working with Giran to try to find more potential members. After the USJ fiasco, Kugutsu was determined to find Shigaraki the best possible villains. People with skills, strong quirks, ambition. Her favorite kind of people.

A smile curled her lips as she read an article that described a hero's untimely demise and she had to bite back a laugh. _A hero killer. He would be perfect! Shigaraki would love it if I could bring him this guy! Maybe…he'd even…! _The thought of a possible reward of some kind made her blush and she bowed her head to hide it from the other commuters around her.

Kugutsu was currently on her way to the mah-jongg bar to see Shigaraki, but it was a surprise. Sitting on the seat beside her was a bag packed with things she thought he might like. Some of it had been purchased at a game store, some of it had been handmade.

Giran had warned her not to give him the handmade stuff because it would make her look creepy and desperate, but she was sure that he was just making fun of her. Honestly, he seemed like the kind of person that got bitter when it came to love so he was probably just jealous. A crocheted Shigaraki doll was just endearing. Not at all creepy. Not even with the actual hairs woven into the yarn. Hairs that she had managed to salvage from her blanket when he had left her room.

Excitement ran through her veins the closer she got to her stop. She felt like butterflies were exploding in her stomach. The thought of presenting him with these gifts just made her feel so bubbly and euphoric. A high unrivaled by anything she had felt before. Even more pleasant than dancing in the blood of her enemies.

The walk to the bar was brisk and she could feel her heart starting to pound at a fast pace. She paused at the door in the alley, placing a hand over her chest and taking a deep breath. Trying to will herself to calm down so she would seem more composed and not at all like the hyper gremlin she was sure he saw her as.

The second that she pushed open the door, something felt wrong. Kugutsu was unable to place what it was, but there was a sort of tension. An "off" sensation that made goose bumps rise on her skin. She paused in the dim corridor, looking toward Shigaraki's room. That was where she went first and found it empty. His handheld console was plugged in, charging, but there was no sign of the blue-haired villain.

It was as she approached the door to the actual bar that the hair rose on the back of her neck. The girl bristled at what she was witnessing and immediately set a hand against the dark wall to her right. Kugutsu's object of affection was lying sprawled on the floor. There was a man more or less on top of him with wild, dark hair and wearing a red eye mask tied around the top half of his head. This man was holding a knife. Kurogiri was standing motionless behind the counter.

_No…! No, no, no! The hero killer?!_ Her eyes widened when she saw blood pooling beneath Shigaraki on the floor. There was a wound between his neck and right shoulder, oozing crimson. _No one hurts Shigaraki!_ Gritting her teeth, she kicked the door open with force. At the same time, the darkness on the wall she was touching peeled off of the wall and solidified into a shape at an alarming speed.

The man had no time to react and was struck in the face, sending him flying backwards off of Shigaraki. Kugutsu charged through the doorway, clutching the solidified shadow and changing its shape to a tentacle. It wrapped around the man's ankle and slammed him into the wall with enough force to knock the air from his lungs. She put herself between Shigaraki and the stranger, crouched so she was touching her own shadow on the floor.

When he rose, the man scowled down at her and adjusted his grip on the knife. "You impudent-!"

"No one touches him! You hear me?! I'll cut off what's left of your face and force it down your throat if you touch him again, you nose-less freak!"

**Shift P.O.V**

He could have taken care of it himself. All it would take was five fingers against the hero killer's throat and he would be dead. Normally, it might piss Shigaraki off that he had just been saved. However, he found his dour mood lifting when he saw her face.

Kugutsu's lips were twisted in utter outrage at seeing him get hurt. She was willing to murder this complete stranger in cold blood over a small wound he had inflicted. It made Shigaraki feel important. Probably even loved, if this was what feeling loved felt like. He had a hard time remembering.

As she fought against the hero killer, screaming obscenities and calling the man every bad name that could possibly exist, Shigaraki found himself watching with a sense of enjoyment. This had been such a bad situation, but it was turning around quickly. His fan girl, his first new member of the League of Villains, was putting her own life at risk to protect him.

For all her madness, she seemed to know exactly what she was doing. She used her quirk to control the solid shadow she had pulled from the hallway to keep him at a distance from her. Not only was she able to protect herself, she was able to throttle him pretty effectively. The hero killer was thrown across the room multiple times, receiving injuries that would leave most too stunned to keep fighting. When he did finally manage to get around her shadow and close in on the girl, Kugutsu resorted to kicking.

All the while, Kurogiri remained frozen in place behind the counter like an awestruck spectator. Shigaraki watched as the fight seemed to escalate further. A blade sliced into Kugutsu's arm, splattering the floor with dark red. The frown that formed on her face was unlike any expression he had seen her make before. Pain. Actual, sane person level pain. She looked like she might even cry.

Unfortunately, it was about to get worse. Kugutsu was unaware of the man's quirk. So when the hero killer lifted his blood-painted knife to his mouth, she simply looked disgusted. Seconds later, her blood was licked away and the girl's eyes widened as she found herself unable to move.

Shigaraki's pulse quickened, teeth gritting, as he saw what happened next. A knife pressed against her neck, a hand tangled in her hair roughly. Kugutsu shrieked, either in pain or outrage. It was hard to tell. What really mattered was that this nose-less creep was now touching Shigaraki's fan girl.

Stain was growling about Kurogiri opening a warp gate to take him back to where he had been, still holding the girl tightly and yanking painfully at her hair when Kurogiri hesitated. The knife's edge pressed tighter against her skin, drawing a trickle of blood.

He saw tears forming in her eyes and hated how it made him feel. He felt sick. He felt angry. Shigaraki was already pissed off that Stain was manhandling his fan girl, but now he was threatening her life. He was threatening to take away Shigaraki's one and only fan forever. Just the thought of having her taken from him made his blood boil and his stomach turn.

"Don't let him leave," he spoke before Kurogiri could use his quirk. "Not until he lets her go."

"I won't release this girl until my demands are met," Stain snarled in response. He yanked at her hair, momentarily lifting her off the ground by her scalp. The tears were starting to slide down her cheeks when he shook her.

Shigaraki approached at a slow pace, his eyes narrowed upon his own shadow on the floor before him. "She's mine. I…_hate_…people touching my stuff. It pisses me off. So I'll give you one more chance. Let go of my girl or I'll make you regret it."

Thankfully, Stain was either dumber than he seemed or he was just too distracted to notice Shigaraki's plan. Whatever the case, when Shigaraki's shadow came into contact with Kugutsu's leg, he got a nasty surprise.

The blue-haired villain's shadow twisted and solidified into a monstrous dragon head with jagged teeth. It clamped sharply onto Stain's leg, drawing the man's blood and forcing his attention away from the girl. She managed to thrash out of his hold, dropping to the floor and slamming a hand against her own shadow.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu could feel her heart racing, her face burning pink, when she heard Shigaraki call her "his". A fluttery explosion in her stomach made her want to giggle as she positioned herself at his side. Her shadow was stretching up into a monstrous centipede as she faced her opponent again.

Blood was wetting the front of her shirt, running down her neck from where he had cut her. Just the thought of this mask-wearing, blood-drinking, Shigaraki-hurting creep licking her blood. Well, it made her blood boil to think of it.

Before she could launch into a barrage of angry insults, Kurogiri cleared his throat and stepped in to mediate. To her irritation, the hero killer was allowed to walk through a warp gate, leaving the villains behind. Turning to the others, she bristled. "You're not…really letting him get away-?!"

"Of course not." Shigaraki itched at his neck, staring down at hers. "I'm going to follow him." A grin tugged at his chapped lips as he reached forward. Four fingers brushed the tender skin of her neck and a shiver ran through her. "Go get the med kit. You're going to take care of me when I get back."

"Wh-what?! No! Shigaraki-san, let me go with you! I can help!"

He drew his hand back, fingertips shining red with her blood. "I thought you were just crazy. I don't have any use for a stupid fan," he muttered. "Look at you. You're shaking. What? Are you scared?"

"Shigaraki Tomura, if you intend to follow him-"

"I'm not done." His cold gaze went from Kurogiri to Kugutsu and he scowled. "Well? Are you scared? I thought you were a fearless broker's assistant," he taunted. "So why're you shaking?"

Kugutsu hated to admit it, but he was right. Her knees were on the verge of buckling. She was trembling like a leaf. Her fight had taken a lot of stamina. She was used to solidifying shadows for just short periods of time, but the hero killer had drawn it out too much.

Curling her hands into fists, she knew that if he was anyone else, she would beat his face into a pulp. However, for whatever bizarre reason, she loved his face. She loved everything about him. Thinking about hurting him made her stomach uneasy and she felt her chest seem to tighten. "I'm…weak right now."

After conferring with his master to procure some Nomus, he left with Kurogiri to pursue the hero killer. Meanwhile, Kugutsu searched the mah-jongg bar for a first aid kit. She hated being reduced to a medic, but it was still a way to help him and his wound looked painful. _He's so cool though. He didn't seem bothered by it at all. That guy could've cut his neck, but Shigaraki was totally calm._

She read through some articles as she waited for his return, wanting to look for more potential members. Preferably ones that she would not need to immediately pull off of Shigaraki and beat within an inch of their life. That would be optimal.

_There's a serial killer bleeding people to death. But what's their quirk? It doesn't say. Hm. Oh! This one could be cool! Someone that burns their victims to ashes! That would be pretty useful. It says their flames are so hot that they're blue. _Kugutsu tried to imagine it, but could only think of the blue flames on certain stovetops and that image was far from cool.

When Shigaraki returned, he appeared less than pleased. He gave her a beckoning nod and led the way to his room. He sat in his chair while she sat on the seat from the bar, grumbling quietly to himself. The villain pulled aside the dark fabric of his shirt to give her access to his wound; not once showing signs of pain from her cleaning it or when she taped some gauze over the cut.

He was about to turn away to start a game on his computer when his eyes caught sight of the blood drying on her neck. Biting his lower lip, he leaned closer to her and narrowed his eyes. "You're still bleeding."

"Oh…um…y-yeah, but I wanted to take care of your wound first." She tensed, heart seeming to do flips, when he reached for the gauze and their fingers lightly touched. Turning her head to the side, she avoided his gaze. "So did you-?"

"Shut up…I'm trying to do something."

"What-?" Kugutsu went silent when she felt gauze press at her wound. It was kind of a hard pressure and soon it scraped over the cut. She then realized that Shigaraki was trying to wipe the blood away. "It's…not that bad," she protested. The gauze was given to her when he got fed up with trying to clean the wound.

Shigaraki picked at the dry skin of his lip as he watched her prepare the gauze and tape to cover her injury. "What kind of psychopath risks their life for someone else? That's so stupid."

Her feline ears drew back and she shrugged. "I guess I just…wasn't thinking. I didn't want you to get hurt." It felt like a pressure was building inside of her. An irresistible urge was gnawing at her heart until it felt like a balloon about to pop. "I-I'm your fan. I'm your loyal fan…Shigaraki…so I…wanted to keep you safe!"

He stared at her for a moment before turning to start his game. "That hero killer freak. You should've seen what he did. He ruined everything. I'm so angry, I don't even know what to say." His free hand settled on her head, rubbing at an ear.


	15. Chapter 15

NeonHorizon: This was a fun one to write! Also, shout out to everyone that leaves reviews; reading those reviews always makes my day! I also appreciate silent readers! Enjoy, everyone!

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"Why am I stuck with this job? Giran-san, I should've gone with you." Kugutsu kept her voice low as she spoke on the phone, eyes glancing around at her surroundings. Giran had gone to introduce two potential new members to Shigaraki while she was sent to a shopping center to meet with yet another potential member. _I like Shigaraki. I wanted to be there. So why am I at this stupid-?_

"Trust me, Kugutsu-chan, you wouldn't have wanted to be there. It got ugly pretty fast. Kurogiri had to intervene."

She bristled at this news, remembering the Stain incident. Since that day, the hero killer was all over the news. The potential new members were supposedly fans of his and it disgusted her. The thought of two more like him attacking Shigaraki, while she was so far away and unable to help, made her stomach churn.

She felt like she might throw up so she slouched a little on the edge of the fountain and released a sigh. "…is he okay…?"

"Oh, don't worry! He's fine! Wow; you sounded like such a lovesick girl just now, I almost forgot who I was talking to!" Giran chuckled. "I'm meeting with Bubaigawara today and-"

"Jin-san?! You didn't tell me he was going to the office today!" Of all of the new potential members, he was her favorite by far. Mostly because he was literally the only one that Giran had let her meet at this point. It was almost like he was afraid she would kill the others. Well, in any case, Bubaigawara Jin had visited the office a few times and every time, Kugutsu was amazed by his weird mannerisms.

"_Focus_. He'll probably still be around if you make this quick. You've still got some time, by the way. Did you start that game I gave you?"

She looked down at the screen of her console. The game was paused. It was a weird game that kind of involved driving, but also other stuff. "Yeah."

"Perfect."

"Why's that perfect?" Her eyes lifted just in time to catch sight of a figure in a hooded sweatshirt seeming to look around, standing about twenty feet away from her. They were taller than her and, judging by their build, seemed to be a guy. "I think they're here. I'll call you later."

The phone was tucked away and Kugutsu approached the figure with caution, still clutching her handheld console. "Hey…are you looking for someone?"

He turned toward her and she could see his face. He had rather reptilian features. His eyes narrowed down at her in suspicion. "You wouldn't know him."

She tilted her head slightly, an ear twitching. "I might. I'm looking for someone, too." Kugutsu kept her tone even, face neutral, as she spoke to the man. "Iguchi Shuichi?"

His eyes widened, mouth dropping open a little. "Y-you're Kugutsu Kurayami?! No way! This can't be right!"

Her ears drew back a little and she crossed her arms. "Why's that? Just not what you expected? Look, I'm every bit as capable as-" Then it dawned on her. As he turned his head to the side and rubbed at the back of his neck through his hood. _No way._ She wanted to laugh, but bit her lip to hold back. _He's not used to dealing with girls, is he?_

"Okay, so I'm not what you expected. I'm still Kugutsu Kurayami. I'm a broker's assistant and...other things." She was not about to outright call herself a villain. Not in this crowded place and definitely not when her confidence was still low. "So how about we get a drink and talk about the League?"

He looked unsure for a moment, glancing around as if this was a prank or something. Finding no one else really looking at them, he realized that this weird girl with cat ears was indeed his contact for the League of Villains if he wanted to join. "F-fine," he grumbled, hands going to his pockets.

As they walked, he caught sight of the game on her console screen and his eyes widened again. "Whoa. Is that the new GTA game?"

"GTA? Ah…I guess? It was a gift from someone. I just started playing today," she confessed. "I like it so far though." And then, yet again, something dawned on her. The reason why Giran had given her the game. "Do you think you could help me with it a little while we talk?"

**Shift P.O.V**

There was this almost overwhelming urge to throw his phone at the nearest bystander. The thought of watching it shatter against someone's face brought him a flicker of amusement, but it quickly made him irritated. He knew that Kugutsu would probably love to see him do that. She might even cheer him on. She would definitely smile, though.

Just thinking about how it looked when his fan girl smiled, he felt himself getting irrationally pissed off. When he came to the shopping center, he tried to call her. She would be thrilled that he wanted to see her; not that he would actually say he wanted to see her. Kugutsu would normally rush to meet up with him, quickly finishing whatever she was working on.

Not this time. The first few times he tried to call her, she seemed to be on a call with someone else. That alone was enough to annoy him. Shigaraki imagined her talking to some other villain and when he thought she might be talking to a guy, it pushed his anger further. _She's my fan girl. Who else is she talking to? Kurogiri said she loves me. So why is she talking to someone else?_

He scratched at his neck, scowling within the hood of his sweatshirt. It was summer. It was hot outside. But summer clothes were really not his style. Shigaraki looked down at his phone screen again and started chewing on his lip, ripping at the chapped flesh. He tried to call her another time and then another. Five calls, each sent directly to voicemail. Her phone was now turned off.

By this point, the villain was so angry that he momentarily tasted bile. As if he might actually puke from being so upset. That taste was soon overpowered by the metallic flavor of blood as he inadvertently chewed through the skin of his lower lip. His chapped skin felt slick now and he licked at the blood.

_What kind of fan ignores her idol?_ As angry as he was, there was something else bothering him. A weird sense of nausea. A strange feeling like he wanted to know where she was and what she was doing. A sort of pain as if not knowing was actually hurting him somehow.

Shigaraki was about to try again when he spotted her. Kugutsu was dressed casually in jeans and the cat t-shirt she had worn when she took him out. She was not alone. The second that Shigaraki saw her companion, he began scratching his neck again, with renewed vigor.

Kugutsu was walking with a reptilian-looking guy with his hood pulled up. The guy was holding her console and seemed to playing something on it while Kugutsu walked close beside him and watched with wide, yellow eyes. There was no mistaking it. She was on a date. At the very least, she liked this freak; she was letting him touch her handheld console. That was practically first base.

To make matters more irritating, the stranger seemed fully aware of this. Kugutsu's lips moved as she said something to the guy and he, in turn, looked a little sheepish. Like he was embarrassed. But he was smiling. It made Shigaraki seethe.

He began striding toward them. Not too quickly, but not at a leisurely pace. Like he knew where he was going and exactly what he was doing, even though he had no plans. In this moment, he was simply infuriated at the sight of his fan girl hanging around this weird guy and probably complimenting his gaming skills.

**Shift P.O.V**

"S-so what are you doing later?"

"Sorry. I've got work." Kugutsu answered in a flat tone, hands in her pockets as she watched him play the game. _He's not great at this, but he's not terrible. And I basically got him to agree to join. So this is a win, right?_

Looking up from the console screen, she saw him frowning. Having such a strange, appearance-altering quirk, he seemed unable to blush. She could still tell he was flustered though. "You know…you could stop at the hideout and try to meet him, probably. He likes games, too."

"What?! Which games?"

Kugutsu began listing them off, feeling her excitement increase as she talked about Shigaraki. After all, he was quickly becoming her favorite subject. She liked him even more than the fantasy about killing All Might.

"Are you into gamers or something?"

"Well-" Kugutsu tensed as an arm slid around her from behind. Four fingertips lightly rested against her left shoulder and she felt her back being pressed against something solid. At first, she wanted to grab whoever it was and smash their skull against the nearest pillar. It was when she looked down at the hand that she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Yami. I didn't know you had _friends_. What good _friends_ you two seem to be. So this is why you weren't answering my calls? Because you were here with your _friend_?" The blue-haired villain gripped a bit tighter, keeping her in place. Leaning forward, his face came into view from the corner of her eye. He was slouching so he was closer to her.

"Friends? With _her_? We're not friends!" the green-skinned villain protested.

"So if you're not friends-"

"Sh-Shigaraki…" Kugutsu attempted to maintain her composure as she spoke, but she began to blush profusely when she realized how casually she had just addressed him. On top of that, he had called her "Yami". No one had called her that in a while and hearing it said in his cold, evil voice made her heart pound. "This is Iguchi Shuichi. He's…joining the League. We met here today to talk about the details."

She wanted him to be proud of her. She was really hoping to see him smile or say that he was glad she was working so hard for him. Instead, he seemed even more irritated. Before she could say anything, the new member spoke again.

"It's "Spinner"," he announced, stepping forward.

"I don't care." Shigaraki lifted his free hand, scratching his neck and keeping a firm hold on Kugutsu's shoulder.

Looking between the two other villains, he seemed a bit disappointed, but not about to push back. He held out Kugutsu's console, his other hand rubbing the back of his neck and apologizing quietly, though he was unsure of what he was apologizing for exactly. Promised that Giran would contact him later, Spinner took his leave.

Watching him go, she allowed herself the smallest of frowns. He had been kind of cool. Still not Shigaraki-cool, but cool nonetheless. They both liked games. They both seemed to like violence and gore; discovered when they walked past a movie rental place and started talking about action movies. Honestly, he would probably make a pretty good friend for her.

The thoughts of friendship were pushed away when she heard Shigaraki sigh and tighten his hold. Her back pressed against his chest and she felt her stomach do a flip. The heat in her face was making her turn a bright, comically red color like a shoujo manga protagonist. _I didn't even know that he was here. And what he's doing right now…it's almost like a hug!_

Butterflies seemed to explode in her stomach and heart, bliss briefly clouding her mind as she basked in the twisted pleasure of being held by the villain. His face was still pretty close to hers and when he bowed his head, eyes narrowed, Shigaraki's chin hovered just above her other shoulder.

"Why are you still trying to act like a broker? I told you to quit your job!" he muttered angrily. "I didn't let you join just so you can keep playing at being a NPC. Most fans would be grateful for the opportunity, but you were talking to that freak like you were on a date." He struggled, still holding onto her while digging furiously at his own neck. "It makes me so angry, I don't even know what to say! Why were you being so friendly with that-?!"

"A-are you jealous?" To her surprise, he seemed to bristle and she thought for a moment that he might actually settle his little finger against her shoulder and destroy her entire arm. Instead, he started biting his lip and narrowed his eyes again. _He…was jealous of Spinner? Wait! Does that mean…does he…does he really like me that much?!_

"You're supposed to be my fan and you were excited talking to him. I saw it," he continued. Shigaraki released her shoulder and let her turn to face him so she could fully see how displeased he was. "Way to make your idol question your loyalty. You were so excited over Kurogiri's hands and now-"

"You're…wrong though! Shigaraki, it isn't it like that! You're…" She dropped her voice more and stepped closer. "Y-you're my favorite villain!" she whispered. "My favorite! _Ever_! You're cooler than any other person I've ever met! I just…I mean…th-that's why I…that's why I _love_ you so…" The actual confession was said in a whisper.

Shigaraki was silent for a moment before leaning down. "So prove it."

It was in that moment that Kugutsu finally lost all composure. She leaned up, arms wrapping around his neck in her excitement. More than thinking about the passerby staring at them, she was thinking about how he had actually been jealous. He liked her. That was what it had to mean. So when her lips finally pressed against his chapped, scarred ones, it made her heart feel like it was bursting with happiness. She hardly even noticed the taste of blood.


	16. Chapter 16

NeonHorizon: For personal reasons, I've decided that Twice won't have any actual dialogue in this fanfic. Ever. Moving on! If you thought I'd skip Shigaraki's reaction to the kiss, you were wrong! Prepare for some awkward villain romcom goodness!

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A normal man would probably act thrilled to hear that someone loved them. A normal man would probably be even more thrilled when that someone wrapped their arms around them and kissed them. Most would hug back and probably return the kiss. After all, that kind of thing takes a lot of courage and reciprocating is the least a man could do to reward that bravery.

Shigaraki was, unfortunately for Kugutsu, not a normal man. Being every bit as bizarre as she was, and even less adept at situations like this, he did none of the above mentioned things. In fact, the villain tensed as if he had been stabbed. His hands remained at his sides, eyes remained open as he stared at the girl's pale eyelids just millimeters from his.

Even though he failed to show an outward reaction, there was definitely an internal one. His heart felt like it might explode. It became a legitimate worry for a second as he felt her warm embrace and the softness of her lips against his. The feeling of her chest pushing against his own when she tightened her hold.

It felt nice. It felt too nice. It was irritatingly pleasant and he had the strong urge to push her away to break contact. His heart was speeding up too fast. A warm feeling was beginning to form in him and he had no idea how to handle it. This foreign sensation was confusing to the point that he just wanted it to end so he could stop feeling like this.

When Kugutsu finally broke contact and stepped back, her face was bright red. Her ears were flat against her head as she shyly looked away. Shigaraki's blood was smeared over her lips from the kiss, but she seemed to have not noticed. "…I…lost control…sorry…" The villain's voice was barely a whisper.

She shook her head and ruffled at her hair, her lips twisting into a frown. "That…that was pretty stupid, right? I shouldn't have just forced myself on you like that! You probably think I'm so uncool now, right?"

His eyes had widened when she grabbed him and now they narrowed. Taking a step toward her, he set a hand on top of her head and kept his little finger extended. His pulse was still speeding faster than a bullet train, but he refused to show that excitement. Instead, his mouth twitched into a satisfied smirk. Even after all of that, she was worried about him thinking she was cool.

Leaning down to bring his face closer to hers, he saw her blush darkening. Her eyes were averted, but darted in his direction to steal glances at him. He was suddenly reminded of a visual novel he had once played. There was a secret unlockable character that was really complicated to get. A character unlike any of the others. While the other characters had been various stereotypes of normal high school girls, this one had been vicious and powerful. Unlocking them also unlocked a "destruction" mode that allowed the player to decimate whole buildings throughout the map and kill the other characters.

"You said you love me, didn't you?" he finally asked.

Kugutsu kept her eyes focused away from him and lowered her head. She swallowed, loudly, and she was starting to fidget with the strap of her bag. "Yeah…"

Shigaraki brushed a fingertip along the back of one of her feline ears and was rewarded with a loud, uncontrollable purring sound. He saw her hips wiggling side to side, but chose once again to not mention that it looked like she was trying to wag an imaginary tail. "How much do you love me?"

She bit her lip to keep herself from saying something embarrassing. It was actually rather cute. "I…love you a lot," she replied, once she appeared to be calm enough to answer. She displayed a sheepish half-smile.

Those words made his chest hurt. Like his heart was being inflated, but also like someone was trying to stab it before it got too big. That was the only way he could think of it. This girl, this psychopath with cat ears, loved him. She was devoted to him. She was something that was completely his. This thought brought him immeasurable satisfaction as he continued to trace his fingertip along the back of her velvety soft cat ear.

However, still being Shigaraki, he was not about to get all starry-eyed just because he realized that he enjoyed having her around. So when he spoke, instead of saying something sweet or endearing, he asked, "If you love me so much…what would you let me do to you?"

It was a question meant to test her. Basically, he wanted to know the extent of her loyalty. Before, when he had threatened to kill her if she annoyed him, she had been completely fine with it. So that was what he was trying to ask now. Did she love him enough to die if he wanted her to die? That would be insane, but he knew her sanity must be low. Just look at who she had fallen in love with. Look at the people she surrounded herself with.

Instead of going pale with fear, a fresh blush rose to Kugutsu's face and made her freckles all but disappear within the red. Shigaraki saw a thin trickle of blood run down from her nose, over her upper lip, mixing with his blood that had been drying on her lower lip. The girl covered her mouth with a hand, swiftly taking a few steps back as her eyes widened.

The villain stared down at her, feeling perplexed and irritated at her reaction. She was not answering his question and it was quickly pissing him off. "Yami. If you're such a loyal fan-" Before he could finish his sentence, she had turned and was sprinting off into the crowded shopping center.

He gritted his teeth, wanting to chase her down and get his answer. What made him stop was when he spotted a group of high school age students. Kids that he recognized from the USJ attack. Glancing toward Kugutsu's disappearing figure, he grumbled quietly and turned his attention to the students. They reminded him of failure. To make matters worse, now he was noticing Stain merchandise in store windows. His fan girl running away, the UA students, and Stain. It all pissed him off so much, he could hardly take it.

**Shift P.O.V**

Arriving back at the office, Kugutsu felt the blood drying on her mouth and chin. _I probably looked like a maniac. Running here like an idiot with blood on my face. Damn it._ She ruffled her hair frantically, the shadows around her dancing wildly as she stomped a boot against the floor.

_I looked so stupid! Why did I do that?! I…I kissed him! I kissed Shigaraki right out in the open like that! He probably thinks I'm disgusting! I looked like a pervert, throwing myself at him!_ Kugutsu rubbed frantically at the dried blood and jumped when she heard someone clear their throat.

Turning slightly, she could feel herself blushing with embarrassment. Sitting on the couch on Giran's side of the office was her favorite new member of the League of Villains, wearing a paper bag over his head with holes cut for his eyes. Kugutsu sighed and ran fingers through her hair, averting her gaze as she tried to regain her composure. "Jin-san…sorry you saw that. It was unprofessional."

He tilted his head slightly, as if to ask what was wrong. Every time he spoke, he contradicted himself, so he seemed to have decided on that day to try to thwart his own peculiar habit by simply not speaking.

"I just…embarrassed myself. It happens. Um…where's Giran-san?" She saw him hold up an empty cigarette pack, shaking it upside down. "Ah. Okay. Thank you. Um…are you okay here by yourself or…?" He nodded. "I'll just be down the hall."

Once she was safely in her room, with the door locked and a blanket stuffed at the bottom of the door to block all sound, she released a scream of frustration. _I can't believe how uncool I've been acting today! I made myself look so stupid in front of Shigaraki and then I had a full on tantrum in front of Jin-san!_

Kugutsu sank to the floor, her back against the wall as she wrapped her arms around herself. Just remembering Shigaraki's question, after their kiss, sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. That simple question. That question that she, as an obsessive fan girl, had completely misconstrued. That question that she was continuing to misconstrue.

When those words left his scarred, dry lips, she felt heat rush through her like a wave. Burning through her veins, filling her stomach, making her heart race. The question of what she would let him do to her. Closing her eyes, she fought the urge to make an embarrassing fan girl sound. _He sounded so cool! He looked so cool! Come on, though! Mind out of the gutter! Clean thoughts! It's not like he would ever…really…be into me that way, right? Even though he got jealous…_

She remained on the floor for a while, trying to calm herself down. If Giran saw her acting hyper or even remotely excited, he would never let her live it down. Of course, Bubaigawara would keep quiet about what he saw. Especially since he seemed to have decided to just not talk.

By the time Kugutsu felt composed, she left her room to locate Giran and tell him that Iguchi Shuichi had agreed to join the League of Villains. She left out the detail about Shigaraki showing up; partially because it was unimportant and partially because she was afraid of reliving her embarrassment.

"So how'd it go? I bet you two really hit it off, huh?" he teased. "Those gamer types really go for you, Kugutsu-chan."

She bristled and leaned against the side of his desk, arms crossed. "…I'm not _bait_…" the girl muttered.

"I never said you were. You just click well with them. I mean, you spend enough time on those games. They can relate to you better than me." Smirking, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his seat. "Iguchi was a shut-in until a little bit ago. Did he tell you that? Not a lot of experience with girls, either."

"Yeah; I could tell." She started chewing at her thumbnail, frowning ever so slightly. _Wait…how long was Shigaraki watching us? Did he…did he show up to make sure everything went okay? So did I actually make him proud by getting Spinner to join?! _The thought made her feel bubbly inside and she had to fight to not grin.

"What? Did something happen?"

"…not really…" Kugutsu looked to the couch and frowned. "Where's Jin-san?"

"Huh? He left already." Giran pushed up his glasses, looking at his part-time assistant with curiosity. "Hey, kid, what's going on? You're being quieter than usual. What happened? You only get like this when you're embarrassed."

"Giran-san!" She bit her lip, hating that she had raised her voice. Truth be told, she was frustrated. Kugutsu had, in fact, embarrassed herself at least twice. When she had forced that kiss on Shigaraki and then got a nosebleed in front of him. Also having a hair-ruffling, boot-stomping tantrum in front of Bubaigawara.

Giran stared up at her for a moment and sighed. Opening a drawer in his desk, he rummaged around and then produced a chocolate bar. Sliding it to her across the desk, he met her eyes directly. "Maybe this'll help." He knew her well enough by this point. When she got embarrassed, she got really quiet, but really angry. It was better to try to just distract her from whatever had happened instead of prying. "Come on. It's a good brand. I need you to be civil, okay? We've got another new member dropping by later."

She gave a small nod and took the offering. As she unwrapped it, Kugutsu's fan girl brain filled with the memory of kissing Shigaraki. It made her pulse seem to flutter and a faint smile drew at her mouth. His lips had been chapped, but they were warm, and when she hugged him it had made her feel almost giddy.

**Shift P.O.V**

Trudging into the bar, Shigaraki saw that Giran and the two new members had gone. Kurogiri was still there, though. As Shigaraki sat at the counter, he grimaced and chewed at his lower lip. The day had been too eventful. He hated having so much stuff happen in one day, but it had. The new members, that encounter with Kugutsu, and then the thing with the UA students.

Kurogiri heard him grumble and probably looked up from cleaning a glass. Hard to tell what with not having a defined head. "Is there something that you need to discuss?" he asked, bartender instincts kicking in.

Shigaraki scowled at him and looked down at the bar. "She said she's in love with me. What am I supposed to do about it?" he muttered, reaching up to scratch at his neck. He instantly remembered how it felt to have her arms wrapped around him, the warmth of her chest against his. He slouched lower and narrowed his eyes.

The glowing yellow eyes of Kurogiri widened a little. "You crossed paths with Kugutsu. I see. Do you feel the same way?"

He gritted his teeth, not about to talk about how he felt towards her. Kugutsu made him feel good. That was all that mattered. That was no concern of Kurogiri's. As Shigaraki's nails dragged over his neck, he felt a spark of hatred. He had never felt so frustrated about a person before. Not this way. Not in the "need to know where they are and what they're doing" way. Not in the "need an answer to my question or I might literally die" way.

"In my experience, most women prefer men that take charge and make the first move," Kurogiri remarked. He was just trying to be helpful. This dad/bartender combo role he suddenly found himself in was rather amusing to him.

Glaring up at him through locks of pale blue hair, Shigaraki seethed. "No one loves you. So who are you even talking about? I don't need advice. You don't even have a fan. You don't know what I need."

"What you need is to do is reciprocate in some way before she falls in love with someone else." Kurogiri continued cleaning the glass and probably bowed his head. "What will you do if she loses interest in you?"

The thought had not crossed his mind, but it pissed him off. The idea that his loyal fan girl might lose interest in him. His nails dug a little deeper in his neck.


	17. Chapter 17

_It's not like I care. He doesn't even have a fan. He doesn't know what he's talking about._ Three days later, Shigaraki was still thinking about Kurogiri's advice. _He's just teasing me_, he thought as his eyes narrowed on the computer screen. He clicked the mouse as his teeth chewed at his lower lip

As much as he grumbled to himself about it and told himself that it was insignificant, it was really wearing on him. What if Kugutsu really did fall for some other villain? What if she started following someone else? Fangirling over someone else. Watching someone else play a game and complimenting someone else's gaming skills.

That last thought made a pain start to grow in his chest. He could imagine her sitting next to someone other villain, watching them play a game while those ridiculous cat ears were perked forward. Her head tilting like it did sometimes. Telling them how cool they were. How good they were at the game.

Shigaraki stopped clicking the mouse and glared at the screen. It was a cut scene, but his patience was quickly wearing thin and there was no "skip" option for the cut scenes in this game. _What if she does like another villain? Why would she though? She's supposed to be loyal. My loyal fan girl. So why would she move on to someone else? She likes me._

Trying to reassure himself did absolutely nothing and he found a really disturbing image pop into his head. Kugutsu handing over her console for someone else to beat a level for her. He gritted his teeth, imagining her cheering them on and then kissing them.

Just the thought of someone else experiencing that. It filled him with hatred. That warmth, that feeling of importance. It belonged to _him_. He refused to share that with anyone.

So now there was the issue of making sure that Kugutsu knew that. Kurogiri had suggested that he take charge and show he was interested, but with his nonexistent experience with this sort of thing, Shigaraki had only the faintest idea of what he could do. _I shouldn't have to do anything, _he thought irritably._ She's my fan. Why should I have to do stuff to make her keep liking me?_

The cut scene ended and he finished the fight in record time. Leaning back with a sigh of frustration, he started scratching at his neck and left deep, red lines. _Where is she anyway? It's been three days._ A look toward his phone made his scowl deepen and he looked away. There was no chance that he was going to call her and tell her that he wanted to see her.

For whatever reason, he had the sudden urge to go out to the bar. Not that he was going to ask Kurogiri for advice or anything. That was out of the question. Besides, Kurogiri had zero fans. What would he know about keeping a fan girl's interest? If anything, whatever he had to say would just be irritating and nagging.

He was nearing the door to the bar area when he caught the sound of a female voice. Quiet and melodic. He peered through the window on the door and, sure enough, spotted his fan girl sitting at the bar and conversing with Kurogiri. There was a sugary-looking frozen coffee in front of her on the counter; piled high with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and little marshmallows.

_What kind of psychopath brings something like that into a bar? Freak._ Shigaraki remained standing in the hallway just beyond the door. Just kind of quietly lurking like the blue-haired hoodie gremlin that he was. Not about to go talk to his fan girl, who gave him an insane amount of confidence and a decent amount of enjoyment. Not about to go back to his room and let her out of his line of sight.

It was only when Kurogiri seemed to look over and possibly raise an imperceptible eyebrow that Shigaraki knew he should probably go into the bar. Of course, he let another five minutes pass just for the sake of appearances. Meanwhile, Kugutsu seemed to be telling Kurogiri a story.

As he entered the bar that the villain realized that Kugutsu was covered in blood. It was drying in clumps in her hair, patches of it were on her cheek and neck, and splashes of it were on her lavender button-up shirt. As gross as it was, she seemed completely unfazed by it and sipped her coffee contentedly.

Shigaraki approached the counter, settling in a seat two down from hers so there was an open seat between them. If she did or said something that pleased him, he might tell her to move closer. Maybe.

"Alright, then. I'm off. Kugutsu, I trust you to step in for me while I'm gone," Kurogiri announced.

"Wait…where are you going?" She seemed just as confused as Shigaraki was.

"I have a meeting with my fan." When Kurogiri said "fan", he appeared to look in Shigaraki's direction. However, the blue-haired villain glared instead of looking even remotely impressed with this news.

"You don't have any fans," he argued. "Where are you really going?"

"I have a fan."

"Who would be your fan?"

"Um…where did you meet them?" Kugutsu's ear twitched as she tried to ease the growing tension.

Kurogiri came from behind the counter, preparing to leave. "I met her online," he replied simply.

**Shift P.O.V**

_Online?_ Kugutsu watched him go and frowned slightly. _Kurogiri's fan. I wonder what they're like._ Abruptly remembering that she was now alone with Shigaraki, she nervously sipped her beverage. It had been a gift. Something that Kurogiri had waiting for her when she came in.

It was odd. Giran had sent her to collect some money for him, hence the blood splattered all over her. When she said she was done, he told her she should go to the bar and try to make connections with the other villains in the League. It seemed spur of the moment so the fact that Kurogiri had the drink waiting for her was really weird.

On the walk to the bar, Kugutsu had started to get a little anxious. She was a real villain now and part of a group of villains. It meant working with other people. When she had agreed to join the League of Villains, she put very little thought into what it really meant. She was mainly focused on the whole "becoming a real villain" thing and being able to see Shigaraki more often.

She had almost decided to just go back to the office, but now she was glad she had gone to the bar. The object of her affection was sitting two seats away, scratching his neck as he turned his gaze from the door down to the countertop. _I'm alone with Shigaraki! Wait a second!_

Her face felt like it caught fire. Lowering her head, she started to fidget a little. "S-sorry…about last time," she muttered. The apology sounded really weird coming from someone covered in blood, but she hoped he could forgive her.

Shigaraki shifted his eyes toward her as he held out a hand. "Give me that."

"Ah…okay." She slid the coffee into his hand, more than happy to let him have it if it would help him forgive her. Kugutsu heard him sip from the straw, her heart beating so fast that she almost wanted to just bolt from the room. _Using the same straw…Shigaraki's using the same straw as me like it's nothing! How can he stay so calm?! I feel like my heart's going to beat out of my chest!_

To her surprise, the drink was slid back to her after a while. "You…don't want the rest?"

"What kind of psycho could handle something that sweet? It's disgusting." Yet he had consumed a decent amount of the sickly sweet beverage. Now chewing at his lower lip, he almost looked like he had something he wanted to say. Something difficult, from the looks of it.

Before anything else could happen to either increase or decrease the tension, they were joined by two more members of the League of Villains. Kugutsu bit her lip, trying not to shout at them for ruining the moment. To her, it had almost been romantic. Of course, Kugutsu's ideas of romance and fun were a little different from the average person's.

"Yami, you're here, too?" Spinner, either oblivious or ridiculously brave, took the seat between her and Shigaraki. Compress greeted the others as he entered behind Spinner and found a place against the counter to lean.

_Why is he dressed like Stain?_ She wanted to laugh, but it was clear that this was not his idea of a joke or parody. He was wearing the Stain cosplay a little too proudly for that. "Yami?"

"It's your villain name, right? Shigaraki called you Yami before."

_Villain name!_ Kugutsu's lips twitched into a subtle grin. "Yeah…that's right."

"After I talked to you, I thought you looked familiar so I was looking online last night." He pushed his phone in front of her on the counter, showing her a video. "That's you, right? From the "café bloodbath"?"

Hitting the "play" button, she realized that this was security footage of her fight with the yakuza. It was a bit fuzzy, but she could still see that moment when she had maimed Chisaki. It brought a smile to her face and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. "Wow! I…I look…"

"You look cool!"

"Move." Shigaraki's voice penetrated their weird gore geeking out session like a pin through a small child's balloon.

"Oh. Sorry." Spinner slid out of his seat, stepping back and looking uncomfortable.

Kugutsu moved to hand the drink back to Shigaraki, expecting that it was what he had wanted. Instead, four of his fingers closed on her sleeve and he pulled hard. She nearly fell out of her seat, but caught herself on the chair between them. "What-?"

"Here. You want to sit next to your _idol_, don't you, Yami?"

Hearing him say "Yami" made her pulse start to pound. She sat beside him, almost cheerfully, and put her drink on the counter between them. _He wants to sit next to me. This is….this is the best!_ She felt his knee touch hers as he grabbed the drink and it felt like tiny bubbles of happiness started popping where their knees touched. The joy spread through her rapidly and she kept her mouth covered to hide her growing yandere-style smile.

Kugutsu was convinced that this was the highlight of her day. Sitting this close to Shigaraki, sharing a frozen coffee. Even if he did call it gross; he still kept drinking it. She wanted to get closer, but remembered what happened when she kissed him. He tensed up. He acted like it was unpleasant. Not wanting to force anything on him or embarrass herself again, she decided to be happy with the way things were for now.

**Shift P.O.V**

He saw the grainy security footage and it made him frown. Watching her fight with the yakuza members actually made his left eye twitch a little. She was taking on nine opponents at once with very little time to collect herself. Kugutsu's movements were quick, as if on instinct alone, but her hits managed to land. She even critically wounded what seemed to be their leader. Somehow, the knowledge that she had gone through that alone, was more irritating than impressive.

For one, she could have died. His one and only fan girl could have been killed that day, fighting so many men alone. Secondly, he was watching her get injured. It pissed him off. These complete strangers were hurting her; his fan girl. It made him want to grab their leader by the throat.

"You looked really cool," Spinner continued, taking the seat Kugutsu had previously occupied. He leaned over, putting his phone down between them so he could show her more videos.

When Spinner did this, Kugutsu leaned over to look and her knee moved away from his. Shigaraki felt his irritation growing, but said nothing. He could still feel the residual warmth from her knee on the side of his. Listening to her talk to the reptilian villain, it only made things worse.

He was so angry that it felt like something toxic was eating away at him. The villain eventually leaned over and quietly grumbled, an arm slipping around her front. He pulled hard, drawing her off of her seat and partway onto his. Keeping a hold on his fan, he glared at Spinner until the other villain seemed to get the message.

Now Kugutsu was sitting partially on the very edge of his seat, between his legs, with her back against his chest. She tensed at first, but then started to kind of shake a little. It took Shigaraki a few seconds to realize that she was trying to withhold excited laughter.

He showed no outward reaction besides a slight smirk. This had to be what Kurogiri was talking about, right? He had taken charge and moved her closer to him. He even did it twice. This had to be enough to keep her interested in him and him alone. If the muffled purring was any indication. Purring probably meant she would be in love with him forever, right? That probably made sense.

Shigaraki gripped the cup with his free hand and finished the frozen coffee, glaring down at the countertop as he did so. As if to challenge the other villains to criticize him for drinking something so sweet. Literally no one was looking at him. The other two men were now watching another video on Spinner's phone and he saw that Kugutsu's head was bowed.

"I thought you were my fan," he muttered, in anger. It quickly died; replaced with confusion when he felt her set a shaky hand on his knee. It felt warm, nice.


	18. Chapter 18

NeonHorizon: As you read this, keep in mind that throughout this chapter Kugutsu is still covered in blood. It adds to the effect. I guess I should put a "mentions of torture" warning up here, too. I really wanted to show her trying to get along with the other members of the League, but it kept ending with her trying to kill Toga so maybe I'll save that for next chapter.

* * *

Shigaraki stared down at where Kugutsu's hand rested on his knee, eyes wide. He remained perfectly still. Like someone that had little to no experience with girls. Like someone that had no idea how to react to having someone that he might like actually touching him. Like a NEET that was being touched by a girl for the first time so he simply froze up and went silent. That last one was a little too accurate.

Kugutsu still had her head down. Her free hand fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as her other hand remained on his knee. Warm. Comforting. It was making his heart beat too fast. It actually started to hurt a little.

The pain in his chest made him want to push her away and go back to his room. A glance over at Spinner made him change his mind. _The second I'm gone, she's going to start talking to him. I can't stand it. _Thinking about her talking to Spinner made him start furiously scratching his neck.

"Sh-Shigaraki…?" she murmured.

He saw how Spinner reacted to her talking to him. He looked so excited. So happy. It was disgusting. It made Shigaraki's stomach turn, seeing him get so excited about talking to his fan girl. Calling her "cool". Watching that video over and over again. It was at this point that he reached a realization.

_He's her fan._ Shigaraki failed to hear her say his name again and began chewing angrily at his lower lip. His eyes were narrowed, focused on Spinner as the reptilian-looking villain showed an uninterested Compress another video of Kugutsu's fight, from a different security camera. _My fan girl has a fan._

The fan girl in question felt his arm tightening around her midsection, a hand pressing hard at her side and keeping one finger lifted. She squirmed a little, becoming just slightly uncomfortable.

It was such an odd revelation that he had no idea what to even think about it. The girl that thought he was so cool. The girl that had geeked out over his efforts to kill All Might and had kissed him. She had a fan of her own. Someone that called her cool and geeked out over her efforts to kill the yakuza leader.

Most people would see that as a potential relationship. Like she could decide to focus all of her romantic attention on Spinner now. Shigaraki, being the socially inept villain that he was, instead worried about her becoming a Spinner fan.

The hand on his knee shifted, fingertips lightly digging in. It made his breathing hitch and he looked down. Kugutsu's obsidian nails were pressing at his knee through his pants, her hand trembling. Seeing this brought him out of those bad thoughts and into what was happening in this moment.

Kugutsu's back felt warm against his chest, her pointed ears just a short distance away from his face so if they twitched just right, he could feel a hint of a breeze against his cheek. There was a quiet purring coming from her so he was pretty sure she was happy and it confused him.

_What kind of psychopath gets excited about this?_ Shigaraki felt her ease up, her nails no longer pressing at his knee. Instead, he now felt her seem to almost lean back against him. The coffee was finished and she had given most of it to him so, in a show of rewarding his loyal fan as well as demonstrating some dominance in front of the other villains, he reached up to start rubbing behind one of her ears.

Normally, she would just continue to purr, but something had Kugutsu more excited than usual and she reacted a bit differently. The girl nuzzled her head against his hand, urging him to keep petting when she thought he might stop. He would have been satisfied with the purring. He would have preferred it. When she acted so eager for him to touch her, it pissed him off. No one had ever craved his touch like this before. He had no idea how to feel about it so he was annoyed.

As irritated as he was, it boosted his confidence. It made him feel powerful. Important. Thoughts of her potential betrayal were gone and replaced with the simple idea that this girl with cat ears felt so strongly about him that she actually wanted to be close to him. She loved him in a way no one else ever had and that love was acting as a fuel to his ego.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu bit her lower lip when she finally drew away from his hand, fully aware that her face was probably so red that it looked like she had an oozing head wound. She was just glad that the other villains were too preoccupied to notice her acting like an attention-starved fan girl. Even if that was exactly what she was.

_I have to say something! He's going to get bored of me if I just sit here like this!_ She remembered something important. A little project she had been working on in her spare time, just for fun. Kugutsu drew her phone from her pocket, still purring, and brought up a social media profile to show Shigaraki.

"This kid…um…Midoriya. He's from UA."

Instantly, Shigaraki's blood-red eyes narrowed on the image and his arm tightened around her more. "Are you stalking him? Psycho."

"It's…actually called "cyber-stalking"," she admitted with no shame whatsoever. "I use a throwaway account and…I sent friend requests to him and his friends. I wanted to tell you…" Kugutsu's lips drew into a grin and she removed her hand from Shigaraki's knee so she could cover her mouth. "I wanted to tell you. This plan that I have. It's kind of twisted, but I think you might appreciate it."

Remembering her plan for All Might untimely demise via dismemberment, the villain's eyes took on an excited appearance. They widened, the corner of his mouth twitching as if he might want to grin. "What? You made a plan? Are you trying to _impress_ me or something?" he grumbled, as if to try to mislead her into thinking it was just an annoyance.

She was embarrassed to admit it, but it was true. Kugutsu had done some research and hoped that her plan would, at the very least, amuse him. "I…_love_ you," she said in a whisper. "I want to impress you." It took a lot of courage to say. Especially in front of the other villains.

Shigaraki sighed, slouching behind her. His face was now just at the edge of her vision as he chewed at his lower lip. The villain pulled her further onto the seat, bringing her flush against him as he looked at her screen. "You thought of something just to impress me? Fine. Tell me what you have planned for him."

Bubbles of excitement rose within her, heart rate increasing as she looked at the screen as well. What she had planned was pretty horrible. Sadistic. Terrifying. Almost as bad as her plan for All Might's death.

"I don't want to _kill_ him," she started, trying very hard not to laugh. "It's really…more like mutilation. But it's not like normal! What I have planned…!" She paused to let herself tremble in silent laughter and only continued when she had calmed a bit. "Imagine this! A metal can, filled with melted chocolate, heated up until the chocolate is bubbling and boiling. The metal has to be red though. It has to be so hot that you need tongs and gloves to handle it."

Kugutsu was unaware of how the other two villains were now looking their way, intrigued by her excitement. "You put the can against his mouth and make him drink it. It would be so hot that the metal cooks the skin of his lips and makes his throat blister. Imagine it! Can you imagine…him choking on burning hot melted chocolate and crying?! Screaming when you rip the metal away from where his lips cooked on it! He'd be sobbing and begging for it to stop! And his throat would be totally seared on the inside and there'd be nothing he could do about it! All the blood and the blisters! Imagine posting that image up on the UA social media page! Can you imagine it?!"

She began to giggle in that high-pitched, terrifying way that she did when she got a sadistic thrill from something. "A school that's supposed to make heroes! And there's a picture of one of their students crying and bloody! Looking pathetic and weak! Can you imagine it?!"

"That's…_awesome_, Yami!" Spinner exclaimed before Shigaraki could reply.

"That sounds excessively cruel," Compress agreed, tugging his hat forward a little. "Are you going to capture the student yourself or do you need help?"

**Shift P.O.V**

It was a horrific image that she described and it absolutely delighted him. Shigaraki could imagine it and it was distressing. The idea of forcing hot liquid down a hero-in-training's throat to scorch them from the inside out. Displaying the image of that teenager; bleeding and tearful. Full of agony that they were unable to ease.

He was impressed. Just as he had been when she told him how she would kill All Might. Both were absolutely horrific fates that no human being should suffer through. Both involved displaying the result to present a message about heroes.

More than just impressed, Shigaraki loved the idea. He wanted to see it happen. That is, until he heard the other two praise her. The second that Spinner called her plan "awesome", Shigaraki became irritated. It was like when you really enjoy an indie game with a small following and then the most annoying person you know gets into it. All interest fades the second that person starts going on about it.

"We're not doing that. I've got a better plan," he spoke up. He slid an arm around her neck to reach up, scratching at an itch at the side of his own neck. Doing this brought her even closer against him, in a move to show the other two that the villain with cat ears was his. The odds of an onshore shark attack were still greater than the odds of him admitting how much he was beginning to like her.

"What?! It's a great plan!" Spinner protested. Realizing that he was going against his leader, he quickly backed down. "What's your plan?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself. You'll have to wait until those others get here." Shigaraki looked from him to Compress, daring them both to argue with him. It was not needed; they seemed perfectly fine with waiting to hear his plan.

Sitting in front of him, well partially on his lap, Kugutsu was trembling. The hand that was holding her phone shook so violently that he thought for a moment she might drop it. She curled forward a little in a slouched position, withdrawing as droplets dotted leg of his pants.

Unlike last time, Kugutsu was now shaking because she was crying. She was literally sitting halfway on the villain's lap, crying her little catlike eyes out. All because he turned down her plan. She was absolutely heartbroken.

A normal person would probably try to comfort her or at least feel bad about making her cry. Shigaraki was far from normal. Instead of trying to console her, he grinned. His heart was palpitating as he felt her shake and heard a soft, sort of muffled sob.

If there was a question about her love for him before, this was the answer. She was so in love with him that a simple rejection of her idea was enough to make her this distressed. Having the villain that she loved tell her that he had no intention to use her plan left her nearly heartbroken and it filled him with immeasurable satisfaction.

**Shift P.O.V**

"Come get me when the others are here," Shigaraki announced. He moved to stand, giving her a rough nudge forward so she was standing.

Kugutsu wiped at her eyes quickly, trying to keep her head down to hide how red she knew her face was. _He didn't like it…? He really didn't like it! I let him down again! Why do I keep doing this?! How many times can I let Shigaraki down before he stops wanting to talk to me?_

She expected him to just leave, but then she felt a hand grip onto her wrist with only four fingers making contact. Kugutsu's cat ears flattened against her head and she felt her humiliation increase as she realized that she would have no time to recover from this little fit of despair. She would have to force herself out of this incredibly emo moment and try to act like a normal human being.

Shigaraki walked ahead of her, pulling her along behind him and into the back hallway. He was quiet and avoided looking back at her. However, she still managed to catch sight of his face. The grin. It gave her a flicker of hope that maybe he did like her plan. Or maybe he wanted her to help him with his plan.

_I just…don't want to disappoint you. I don't want you to hate me. I don't want to let you down. I want to do everything I can because I want to make you happy!_ She watched him grab his handheld console from the desk before settling on the floor with his back against the wall. The girl saw him start the game and ruffled her scruffy black hair, trying to figure out what exactly he wanted.

He glared up at her through his hair and nodded toward the empty spot beside him. "I need items," he stated without further explanation.

"Oh. O-okay. Sorry." She sank to the floor and dug her console out of her bag, still trembling. Now she was shaking from nervousness instead of sadness. She was glad that he seemed to still want her around, even if it was just for the game.

Being the somewhat socially awkward gremlin that she was, Kugutsu left about six inches of space between them. Really, she was treating Shigaraki like a strange, rare creature you would see in nature and be careful not to startle. She wanted him to like her and since her plan had failed to impress him, now she was determined to get him whatever items he needed in the game.

He saw her sit and waited a moment before grumbling. "What're you doing? You're acting like I have something wrong with me. I thought you liked me."

"I do!" she blurted out. "Er…I mean…I admire you…um…" She moved closer to him and felt warmth bubbling in her when their legs touched. "L-let's get started."


	19. Chapter 19

NeonHorizon: I'm trying to keep Shigaraki as in-character as possible so...if he seems kind of harsh, that's why. The next chapter is going to be kind of intense.

* * *

_He's being loud. Who is he talking to anyway? _Kugutsu looked across the office at Giran, who was chatting away on his phone like he was the only person in the room. Even when their eyes briefly met, he seemed to either not register that he was distracting her or he simply did not care. Either way, it was pissing her off.

She clicked through the files he had sent her, giving each one a brief look through before jotting down some notes. _All these new members and I've still only met a few._ She chewed on the end of her pen, frowning to herself. It really did feel like Giran was distancing her from the others on purpose. _Does he think I won't get along with them? If it's for Shigaraki, I can try to do pretty much anything._

"I don't know. That's a weird question. I've never really thought about that before." His voice got a little louder with surprise.

_What?_ Kugutsu tilted her head as their eyes met again. _Is he taking a product survey or something?_

"I want to say birds."

_What the hell? What was the question?_ She almost wanted to laugh. It sounded sort of like he was having someone fill out a personality quiz for him. Or a dating website profile. Not that she could picture her boss going on a date with anyone. She had seen him look at women, but never actually talk to them.

"Well maybe it's fish? Maybe both. She gets weird about rabbits, too. One time, she spent half the day stalking one when she was supposed to be running an errand. That was the last time I sent her anywhere rural," Giran said with a laugh.

Heat overtook her face as she realized that he was talking about her. She stood and stalked across the room to slam a hand on the desk beside his laptop. Leaning down close, Kugutsu's catlike eyes narrowed and she let her lips twitch into a snarl. The shadows at her feet seem to start bubbling and when he looked down, his eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah, but anyway, we should really be talking business!" He gave her a grin that was not even remotely apologetic and nodded toward her desk.

As she returned, there was a ping on her laptop. Kugutsu saw a new message on her social media tab and tilted her head when she saw who it was from. _Iguchi Shuichi?_ She opened the message and had to fight back a smile.

It read "If you still want to do your plan, I'll help! Let's pick a different kid though. Stain marked that one."

So she typed back "You want to help me? Even though Shigaraki has a better plan?" It was both confusing and uplifting at the same time. Her crush had bluntly told her that he was not going to use her plan so she was still a little sad. However, Shigaraki was their leader so they had to follow his orders. _So why's Spinner going against what he said?_

The reply came quickly as "You said you wanted to send a message about hero students! I want in! And if we do it ourselves, Shigaraki will have to be impressed that we took the initiative to do this for him!"

_Impress Shigaraki…?_ That was literally all it took to make her face start turning red. Kugutsu nodded to herself, feeling her confidence increase a bit with Spinner's encouragement. So she typed "You really think it's a good idea?"

To which he replied "I think it's a great idea!"

She hated it, she really did, but her lips moved up into a half-smile. Before she could ask him if he wanted to meet to discuss it in person, to avoid leaving online evidence, Kugutsu heard Giran laugh and her attention became divided again. _He's having too much fun over there. Who is he talking to?_

"Oh! Is that so?" Giran took on a sheepish smirk and looked directly at Kugutsu. "No; she's not doing anything right now. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have something to do."

"…I'm _working_…" she murmured, but she knew he was ignoring her.

"Sounds good. I'll let her know." He ended the call, settling his phone on his desk and appearing amused. "Kugutsu-chan, I've got a job for you this afternoon."

"Can it wait? Iguchi and I-" She was cut off by her boss tossing a bound bundle of cash her way. The girl caught it and counted it on reflex before giving the man a curious look. "What's this for?"

"Villain costume." He stood and leaned against his desk, lighting a cigarette.

"You have my measurements; just send them to whoever made Jin-san's costume," she grumbled.

"Bubaigawara's costume is a special case. You really don't need much; you just can't wear your everyday stuff. Really, I think it'd be best if you wore the same kind of school uniform as Toga. Yeah; you're too old to be in high school, but you look pretty young. Anyway, take that money and get yourself a costume."

**Shift P.O.V**

Every time he thought about it, he started to feel weird. Bad. Not exactly guilty, though he was unsure if he could even tell if what he was feeling was guilt. He just felt bad. He was feeling something that he wanted to banish.

_The only way to get rid of this is to kill her_, Shigaraki thought to himself as he continued walking. Carefully avoiding the other people walking through the crowded shopping area. Keeping his head down, his hood pulled up, his hands in his pocket as he clutched "Father".

Of course, a certain worry surfaced when he thought about killing her. It might make the weird feeling go away, but it also might make it worse. As he tried to imagine her body succumbing to his disintegration quirk, it did make the feeling more intense. He gritted his teeth, scowling at the floor as he attempted to shake the image from his mind. For some bizarre reason, it sort of hurt to imagine that.

Truthfully, Shigaraki did like her idea. The way she described it, how excited she had gotten, really made him want to do it. If Spinner would have just kept quiet, they might have even attempted her plan.

He chewed at his lower lip as he remembered how the reptilian villain had praised her. How he had been so impressed with her fight against the yakuza. How he had touched her console. Shigaraki tasted blood and licked it from his lower lip, his frown getting deeper._ Her fan. My fan's fan. Why does she have a fan anyway? She's only been a villain since I asked her to join the League of Villains. If it wasn't for me, she'd still just be a broker's assistant._

The villain was walking past a particular shop when he happened to glance up and catch sight of a familiar figure with cat ears. Shigaraki's eyes narrowed as he came to a halt. She was standing with her back to the shop window, apparently looking at clothes. Just the sight of her conjured up certain images that made his heart do that annoying palpitating thing that it had recently gotten in the habit of doing.

**Shift P.O.V**

_What would a real villain wear? It's got to be something easy to move around in. No gloves though; I need to be able to touch shadows for my quirk._ Kugutsu chewed at her thumbnail as she examined a rather bulky sweater. It was cute, but definitely not something that a person should wear while fighting heroes and trying to create absolute blood-painted chaos.

She was about to move on when she felt a tug at the back of her shirt. Kugutsu looked over her shoulder, expecting a nosey employee or a little kid that wandered away from their parent. Instead, her cat-yellow eyes met a pair of blood-red ones that made her jump. "Sh-Shigaraki?!"

His eyes narrowed when she jumped and he looked down to where he was gripping the back of her shirt between his thumb and two first fingers. "What're you doing here?"

"Um…well…ah…" The girl wanted to turn around to face him, but he was still holding onto the back of her shirt so it would be awkward if she did. "Giran-san told me to come here to get something to be my villain costume." She kept her voice low to keep from attracting the attention of other shoppers.

He looked up from her shirt, lips twitching into a scowl. "I told Kurogiri I was coming here."

_This was a setup._ Not that she was upset about seeing him; she was overjoyed. This was the highlight of her day. She just wished Giran had not felt the need to go behind her back to plan this with Kurogiri. _So…what now?_

An idea sparked and she decided to be bold. Or at least attempt to be bold, in her weird and horribly awkward way. Kugutsu reached a hand back and very gently took his hand. "Do you…? I mean…" She averted her gaze, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "You're the leader and I've never done this before so…do you want to help me pick out my costume?"

To be completely truthful, part of her just wanted to wear a costume like his. Without the hands, of course. The simple black pants and shirt seemed so comfortable. Really, she only needed to have her hands exposed. As long as she could touch a shadow directly with her skin, she could control it. However, as crazy as she was, even Kugutsu could recognize how creepy it would be for Shigaraki's fan girl to dress like him.

Now he was looking down at where she was holding onto his hand. Seeing her slender, delicate fingers with their obsidian nails grip his hand gently. He slowly looked back up to her face and his lips twitched again. This time, he began to smirk. "My fan girl wants me to pick out her costume?"

Something about the way he said sent a shiver down her spine, but in a weirdly good way. Kugutsu had to stop herself from smiling, despite the growing blush on her cheeks. "…yes…I'd…I'd _love_ that…" she murmured.

He stared at the other villain for a moment, seeming to take in her reply as well as her reaction. She was clearly ecstatic about the idea of having her object of affection make such an important decision. He was clearly pleased by this and started leading her off with little hesitation.

In the end, Kugutsu ended up with a rather different costume than what Giran probably expected. It was all in black; pants with holes in the knees and a long-sleeved shirt that was a tight fit with holes in the elbows, shoulders, and with mesh running along the forearms. So it was kind of similar to Shigaraki's costume, but with more skin exposed so she had more options for touching shadows.

The fact that he had managed to pick out such a perfect costume was a bit strange. Mostly because he kept acting like it was more of a pain than an honor. Like he would rather be doing literally anything else. However, he seemed content when he saw her hide a smile behind her hand.

Even after the task was complete, she walked beside him. All it took was being in his vicinity to make her pulse race and brain feel giddy. She might have hated how it ruined her professionalism, if not for the whole "blinded by love" thing. _I definitely have to impress him now! I want him to be happy and I want to be the cause of it!_ Kugutsu curled her hand into a fist, nodding to herself.

"Why are you nodding?" he asked, sounding mildly annoyed. He scratched at his neck, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"…sorry…" She shook her head, glancing away from him. "It's nothing." The girl saw him quicken his pace and moved to catch up to him. When he rounded a corner, she jogged to keep herself from losing him and felt her heart palpitations grow so intense that she thought the organ might escape her chest.

The second she was around the corner, Kugutsu's back slammed against the wall and a hand gripped her neck. Four fingers pressed against her flesh, the villain's other hand braced against the wall above her head with his little finger extended. Shigaraki's face got close. Horribly, unsettlingly close. So close that, if Kugutsu had more cat traits, she might have tried to boop noses with him.

The villain's scarred, dry lips curled into a grin and a strand of pale blue hair fell forward to brush against her right cheek. He could see her face turning red from either lack of oxygen or a blush. Really, since it was Kugutsu, it was probably a creepy mix of both. "Well? Aren't you scared? I could kill you right now."

Kugutsu felt the pressure increase on her neck, but kept still. Staring at him, blushing. Feeling a warm tingle run through her as he drew closer. So close that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. She saw his eyes narrow further and the hand on the wall moved.

The back of three fingers brushed along her cheek as his grin fell to a frown. For a second, he actually looked almost a tiny bit concerned and confused. As if her lack of fear bothered him. Shigaraki saw her eyes half-closed as his skin made contact with hers and he bit his lower lip. Her lack of fear both pleased him and irritated him. "Why aren't you afraid?" he questioned her.

She could feel the pressure ease up gradually until she could breathe easily again. "Because I…like it," she confessed. Saying this seemed to magnify the feeling. Kugutsu wanted to lift a hand to touch him, but stopped herself. _I'm just a peon. He's above me. He's…so much cooler than I am._

"You actually want me to touch you?" He sounded almost angry now.

"Yes." The raven-haired villain had been looking away and now met his stare. Sweat dotted her hairline and her stomach felt like it was doing flips.

He tapped his fingertips against her neck and seemed to be considering his next move. Leaning away, Shigaraki pulled both hands back to push into his pocket. He fidgeted with "Father" as he tried to discern whether or not she had just offhandedly told him she wanted to die. "You're weird."


	20. Chapter 20

NeonHorizon: The chapter where you realize just how bad Kugutsu really is at socializing! And a little something special to make your twisted little hearts race!

* * *

Kugutsu had wanted to be a villain since she was twelve. She worked hard to maintain good enough grades through school so as to not draw attention to herself. She graduated and promptly attempted to start her villain career. It was way harder than she expected.

She began to just follow shady-looking characters and came across Giran. It took months of begging and bribing before he eventually agreed to let her work for him. She thought it would end there. That her dreams were doomed to never come true, that she was going to be a broker's assistant, or broker, for the rest of her life. Not that that was such a bad thing; she enjoyed the work.

_Now here I am. I'm about to go to my first real League of Villains meeting. All of the other villains are going to be there._ Kugutsu stared at the door to the bar, a frown on her lips. _I've wanted this for so long. So why can't I just go in?!_

She narrowed her eyes, as if the door was the issue. As if she would gladly go inside if not for this one obstacle. In truth, her palms were sweating and her heart was pumping faster by the second. _I can do this! I can! I have to! Shigaraki is expecting me to be there! I can't let him down!_

Swallowing, she felt a lump forming in her throat. Kugutsu paced a bit as she tried to figure out why this was so difficult. _Is it my costume? I know it's not as flashy as some of the others…_She shook her head and reached up to ruffle at her hair. _That's not the issue here! Shigaraki picked out my costume! I love it; it's totally perfect for my quirk! So what's-?!_

"Can you have a mental breakdown somewhere else? You're in the way."

Kugutsu bristled and turned quickly to glare up at the young man now standing behind her. He was decently taller than her so she had to tip her head back to meet his bright blue eyes. "Excuse me, but do you need something?" she murmured, taking a step closer in challenge.

He blinked slowly and a smirk took form as he leaned down in a patronizing manner. In this moment, Kugutsu took very little notice of the really nasty-looking scars beneath his eyes and covering the lower half of his face. She paid no mind to the staples that seemed to be holding him together like some kind of half-assed doll someone made with office supplies during their lunch break. She was fixating on that smug expression he wore.

"I think you're at the wrong place, kitty."

"You want to say that again? I think I misheard you. It sounded like you said "I wanna die". That can't be right though, can it?" Kugutsu stood on tiptoe, doing her best to be intimidating without using her quirk.

He reached past her, planting a hand on the door as he leaned down further. "I bet cat fur stinks worse than human hair when it burns. Should we find out?"

"Yami, you're still out here? I thought you'd be the first one in." Spinner approached the two and looked from one to the other. "Oh. You met Dabi?"

"This is Yami? Weak." The improvised office supply doll of a man leaned away from her, his hands going into his pockets. He was about to try to move past her into the bar, but paused and stared at Spinner. "What're you wearing?"

"It's my villain costume!"

"No; I mean that girly choker. What's the deal?"

_Choker?_ Kugutsu looked and saw the reptilian villain rub the back of his neck. He was, indeed, wearing a black choker high up on his neck above the scarf from his discount Stain cosplay.

"I modeled my costume after Stain, but I wanted to honor Yami, too. It's not girly. Besides, I made it myself; it's not like I bought it at a store or something!"

She decided to just walk away before Dabi could piss her off again. Taking a quick pace, but not too quick, she tried to look confident and cool. Being Kugutsu Kurayami, though, this was impossible. The second she stepped inside, she managed to slip on a wet part of the floor and landed on her back on the hard wood.

Her face burned red as she hastily pushed herself to stand again, wishing that she had come in through the back like usual. _Giran-san knew I'd run into someone_, she thought bitterly as she sat at the bar.

"That was quite an entrance." Kurogiri set a bag of ice in front of her, eyes slightly narrowed in what was probably amusement. "It's a shame that Shigaraki Tomura was not here to witness it."

Kugutsu used the ice to soothe the bruise that was forming on her elbow and when she felt better, she handed it back to him. "…thank you, Kurogiri-san…"

"Of course."

She lowered her head as she dug around in her bag, trying to make sure that her handheld console was alright. Instead of touching it, she accidentally touched something else. A particular crocheted doll made to look like Shigaraki. It was much better than the first one so she hoped to give it to him after the other villains left.

_He likes me_, Kugutsu thought with a faint rush of pink to her face. _He has to. He got jealous when I was talking to Spinner. And he helped me pick my villain costume. And he always plays games with me. He likes me._

In her blissful, lovey-dovey fan girl haze, she failed to notice the next member of the League entering the bar. She even failed to hear them exclaim "What a cute kitty!" Kugutsu probably would have stayed sitting there, daydreaming about gaming with Shigaraki, unaware of the person's presence. But then they threw their arms around her from behind in the tightest hug she had ever experienced. Her ears perked forward in alarm, her body going tense as she felt a cheek rub against hers.

"You're so cute! And you're so comfy to hold," a girl's voice remarked.

Kugutsu slammed a hand down on the counter, morphing the shadow beneath the ice bag. It lifted and solidified into a dagger that she then lifted and pointed at the girl's face. "…back off…or lose an eye…" she snarled quietly.

All of the other members went silent upon seeing this happen. All eyes turned to the two female villains as the blonde girl released her and stepped back, a pout forming on her blushing face. Kugutsu turned in her seat, a hand lifting to anxiously ruffle at her scruffy black hair. "You're…?"

"I'm Toga! I'm a huge fan of Stain-san!" she said with enthusiasm.

_Another Stain fan. What's so great about him? He hurt Shigaraki!_ Kugutsu pushed down her anger, wanting to remain calm, but it was difficult. "I'm Yami." She set the knife down, letting the shadow melt back onto the counter.

"I know. You were picked by Tomura, weren't you? He picked you to join before everyone else."

Her left eye twitched upon hearing this random girl with fangs refer to her object of affection as "Tomura". Toga said the name so casually. As if she was his best, closest friend. Like she was his girlfriend or something. It made Kugutsu seethe. In that moment, she went from seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses to seeing pure red. She wanted to fill the girl's body full of shadow spikes and watch her bleed out.

Before Kugutsu could demand to know how Toga knew Shigaraki, she saw the blue-haired villain enter the room. Under normal circumstances, if this was any other random girl inadvertently threatening her potential love life, Kugutsu would have used her shadows to tear the girl apart. Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for Toga, the girl was a villain. An asset to the League of Villains. Killing her would probably disappoint Shigaraki.

Opting to just stand, she tucked her hands into her pockets and made another attempt at looking cool and calm. Not exactly an easy task, given how excited she was to be attending her first real villain meeting. Listening to Shigaraki discuss his plan, she could feel her excitement growing. She was so elated that she failed to notice the tall figure that decided to stand next to her.

**Shift P.O.V**

When he saw the tall figure move to stand beside Kugutsu, he started scratching his neck in irritation. His fan looked so happy to be there. So happy to see him. _Why is that freak standing next to my fan?_ To make matters worse, he was doing it so casually. Like he knew her. This thought only added fuel to Shigaraki's frustration.

He looked away from them, managing to get through the plan without glancing in her direction again. Though he really wanted to. The awe in her eyes when she looked at him was an insane boost to his confidence and that was what a leader needed. Kugutsu was what he needed

_If that freak touches her, I'll disintegrate his face. We can always find new members. We don't even really need him. He's just cushioning. He's a playable character, but he's nothing special. Like the freebie they give you when you set up an account._

Shigaraki saw the moment that Kugutsu noticed Dabi standing next to her and he felt his pulse quicken. He bit his lip, watching her seem to bristle and then glare at the man. Shigaraki had started to notice that when she was in fight mode, she had a habit of kind of half-crouching almost. So much like a cat that it made him again think about what a waste it was that she did not have a tail.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu was seething over the fact that Dabi startled her. She wanted to tear his throat out, but was again stopped by the fact that it would probably disappoint Shigaraki. The girl prepared herself to threaten him, hoping to deter him from messing with her again, but stopped when Shigaraki approached them.

He looked at Dabi first, lips curling into a scowl, and then looked to Kugutsu. "I need you for something. Come with me."

She felt a rush of euphoria. Like she was getting high on the best sort of drug. Like she was floating on bubbles of excitement. She waited for Shigaraki to start walking before she flashed a smirk at Dabi. _I'm more important than you. He likes me! He does, doesn't he? He wants to see me privately so that can only be a good thing!_

Kugutsu followed him to the door that lead to the back area of the bar, pausing to glance over her shoulder at the other villains. It was a bizarre assortment of so-called "evil doers", but at first glance they at least looked intimidating. Especially Muscular, Moonfish, and Mustard. She was sure they would be important members that she would work with a lot in the future.

Stepping through the doorway, she expected to follow him either out into the alley or into his room. After all, Giran had told her specifically to bring her console and games. Instead, in her distraction, Kugutsu failed to notice that he had stopped walking. She seemed to be failing to notice an awful lot of things that day.

Colliding with something solid, Kugutsu winced and mumbled an apology that caught half-way in her throat. Her cat-yellow eyes widened in the dim corridor as she felt arms wrap loosely around her to draw her a little closer. The villain rested his chin on the top of her head, saying nothing as he simply held her in the darkness. Though he had to notice the way the shadows below her danced and twitched.

_Is this…is this really happening right now?_ Her face quickly grew hot and she struggled to breathe. She felt so self-conscious. She was afraid of him hearing her breathe, hearing her pulse. Kugutsu hesitantly lifted her hands and they were, much to her dismay, trembling. _Do I hug back? Is this a hug? I feel so happy…it has to be a hug. I feel so happy that it hurts!_

Tears blurred her vision and she bit her lip, still struggling with what she should do. Finally, her emotions gained control and she let her forehead rest against his collar bone. Her fingers gently gripped the back of shirt, careful not to cling to him, but also not wanting to separate from him.

"…why…?" Her voice was quiet, hoarse from holding back.

Shigaraki released a sigh that could have been from irritation, frustration, or even satisfaction. It was surprisingly difficult to tell. "You're my fan. I thought I'd reward you."

A smile tugged at her lips and she struggled to keep the happy tears from leaving her eyes. _This is love. My heart's beating so fast and I feel like I could just melt. _She wanted to get closer. She wanted to hold onto him tighter, press her face into his chest so she could hear his heart to see if it was racing like hers was. "Thank you," she whispered, afraid of the others hearing.

"You're _my_ fan only," he started. "You're not a fan of anyone else." It was clear from his tone that this was actually a question. He wanted a confirmation.

"O-of course! Shigaraki, you're my favorite person! I-I like you more than anyone else in the _world_!" Kugutsu bit her lip, her face red with embarrassment.

"…you're a good girl…" He tightened his hold and, for a moment, Kugutsu began to suspect that maybe this was more for him than her. As if gaining that reassurance from her was something that he needed. Something he craved. As he finally loosened his hold and looked down at her, he scratched at his neck and narrowed his eyes. "Why're you crying?"

She swiftly wiped at her eyes, ashamed that he had seen her that way. "I'm just…really happy. I'm sorry. I shouldn't cry in front you; I look like such a loser-"

"Just stop crying," he grumbled. It was really confusing to him. How someone could be that happy over being touched. Especially by him. Just the slight lowering of his little fingers and he could have killed her.


	21. Chapter 21

NeonHorizon: Finally All Might appears. Also...if you private message me and I come across as kinda cold or unfriendly; I'm really sorry. My social abilities are about as good as these two awkward villains. I do like talking to people. I really do. I'm just super awkward and don't know what to say. Anyway! Next chapter will have something a little different. A little calm before the storm.

* * *

"Which one was it again?" Kugutsu looked over her shoulder, frowning at her accomplice. After her reward from Shigaraki, she was more determined than ever to find a way to impress him and make him happy. Hence why she and Spinner had knocked out a pair of third year UA students to steal their uniforms. Hence why they were now lingering in the shopping area closest to the school.

He looked away quickly and frowned. "That kid with the explosion quirk, right? Bakugou something."

The female villain ruffled her hair, frowning back at him. "Shigaraki really wants to get that one?" She had been so blinded by her fan girl bliss before that she had failed to really pay attention to the plan itself. Kidnapping possibly one of the most dangerous students, who seemed kind of like they might have anger issues, to try to get them to join the League of Villains. When it was put that way, it sounded like a super risky, possibly even stupid, plan.

_Shigaraki wants him though._ She brought up the boy's profile on a social media website and stared at his photo. Her ears twitched forward a bit. _He looks like he'll be trouble. But if we can get him for Shigaraki…_Just imagining how impressed her crush would be, she started to blush pink and subconsciously smile.

"Could you stop having a fan girl moment and focus?"

Kugutsu bristled when their third, entirely uninvited, accomplice chimed in. She had been looking down at her phone, but now lifted her eyes to glare at Dabi. "Remind me. Who invited you?" Her lips pulled into a straight, tight line as she regarded the smug expression on his face. Even within the shadows of his hooded jacket, she could clearly see that smirk.

"I just wanted to see Yami in action. I've heard _so_ much about how _cool_ you are. You can't blame me for being skeptical." Beside him, Spinner looked guilty. Like he was probably regretting talking about her to Dabi.

She crossed her arms, about to launch into a creative string of insults the likes of which he had probably never heard before, but paused when she heard something in the distance. Something that made her blood boil. Something that made her lips twitch into a snarl as she gritted her teeth.

The villain could have sworn that she had heard someone call "I am here!" and she wanted to believe it was a mistake or a recording. The fact that there was now cheering in the distance, accompanied by people exclaiming "All Might" only confirmed it. He really was there.

Without a warning to Spinner and Dabi, Kugutsu began walking briskly to the street corner and peered around it. The hero was there, surrounded by adoring fans. It made her stomach turn. Just the sight of All Might was enough to send her spiraling into an insane rage.

Spinner jogged to catch up to her and saw the villain's shadow starting to sway. A light post's shadow had fallen across her legs, touching her skin, giving that shadow life as it touched her own shadow and passed the gift of life on to it.

To his alarm, her shadow reached toward his and Spinner's shadow started to twitch. It lengthened and shuddered as it came to life, beginning to shift to a different shape. When it was done, Spinner was staring down at a black dragon silhouette instead of his own shadow. "H-hey, Yami! Calm down!"

She turned to look at him, ignoring the smirking villain behind him. Kugutsu's expression was the picture of serenity, but her catlike eyes were narrowed and filled with a deep hatred. "You look scared."

"I'm not scared!" he protested. "But my shadow-!"

"Your shadow?" She looked down and saw the dragon silhouette. "…sorry…" It fizzled and went back to normal quickly. As composed as she appeared, she was still as bitter as the darkest coffee. With no real plan, she began walking toward All Might as confidently as if she actually had an idea of what she was doing.

"Hey! Dabi, what-?!" Spinner demanded behind her.

"Don't worry about it," Dabi assured the other villain as he hit "record" on his phone. Not that his smirk helped to ease Spinner's worries.

Normally when her heart raced it was because she was with Shigaraki. Or thinking about Shigaraki. Or looking through her massive collection of various grainy images of him caught on security cameras and saved from numerous shady websites. Or doing something cute; like searching his name online. Now her heart was racing with anticipation as she neared the crowd.

Kugutsu slipped into the group of onlookers easily. After all, she pretty much looked like she was just a high school student since she was wearing the uniform. Besides the cat ears, she could basically be considered plain. No one questioned it when she tried to get closer. In fact, some people actually moved to let her do it.

As she found herself practically right in front of All Might, she stared up at his smile. In that instant, she imagined his face carved off and stapled to a telephone pole in a shopping district. _Where everyone can admire it_, she thought as she forced a smile back at him.

When asked if she was in the hero class, she said "yes". She said she was a third year student and that she looked up to him. That he was the reason she wanted to be a hero. He seemed pleased, but it was hard to tell when the hero seemed physically incapable of not smiling.

_That almost looks like it hurts_, she thought with a giggle. _I'd be putting you out of your misery, wouldn't I? And Shigaraki would be so happy. Not yet, though. I want Shigaraki to be able to see it. Maybe if I can just erase that smile for a second…_

The crowd started to disperse and she lingered there, talking as if she was really a student. All the while, she imagined him dying and how delighted her crush would be. The thought of killing All Might for him made her think of how girls gave chocolate to the boys they liked.

"So what's it like?"

"What's what like?" he asked, still smiling despite his confusion.

It was now that she displayed her true smile. A smile full of malevolence and madness. She turned so she faced him completely, wanting to have this moment burned into her memory. "Everyone loves you as the _symbol of peace_, but no one loves you as a _person_. I bet it _hurts_, right? No one really knows anything about you so how can they really love you? What they love is just an _image_. They don't love _you_ at all; just what you stand for. Doesn't that hurt?"

To her absolute delight, Kugutsu saw it. She saw a shift in his expression. The smile was now a simple straight line as he looked down at the villain. It was not the heartbroken frown she had hoped for, but this was still pretty good.

**Shift P.O.V**

_What is this?_ He was tempted to not even open the attachment. After all, Dabi seemed like the kind of person that would send something horrible and annoying. As he considered just deleting the message, Shigaraki saw the caption and started chewing on his lower lip. The caption read "Pissed off kitty".

So it could be a small variety of things. It could literally be a video of a really angry cat, it could be something wildly inappropriate that would make Shigaraki want to jam all five fingers into his eyes, or it could be a video of Kugutsu. It really was anyone's guess what it might be.

Hoping it was just an angry cat, he decided to open the attachment. Red eyes widened as he saw Kugutsu making her way into a crowd of All Might fans that were surrounding the hero. As he watched, she approached the man and seemed to talk to him. He was glad when Dabi seemed to have edged closer to the area because the audio became clear at just the right time.

Hearing his fan girl speak to All Might with such venom made his heart skip a beat. Shigaraki brought the phone screen closer, his chapped lips pulling into a grin as he heard those words. She was telling All Might no one loved him and, to Shigaraki's amazement, it seemed that her words affected him. All Might's smile appeared to not be a permanent fixture because it fell to a straight line.

As he leaned back in his chair, at his desk, the villain felt pleased. Even if Kugutsu seemed to have not known that she was being recorded, she had mirrored his hatred and it impressed him. However, it would have been more impressive if she was in her villain costume. The fact that she was in a high school uniform kind of ruined any cool factor she might have had.

_Why's she wearing that? She looks like she's cosplaying. _Not that he hated it. Not that he was unable to appreciate how she looked in it; she looked even more like a character from a dating sim now.

It was when he heard voices echoing from the bar that he realized the video must have been taken a while ago. Twice was in the bar alone earlier and now he was greeting Kugutsu and Spinner. The blue-haired villain got up to join them. Although, he was unsure if he wanted to tell her that he saw her performance. She might take it as him being impressed, which he was, but he had no desire for her to think he would start idolizing her.

**Shift P.O.V**

_I almost lost control_, she thought with a frown. Kugutsu was slouching in her seat at the bar, ruffling her dark hair and not caring that she was losing her cool in front of the others. _I made Spinner's shadow into a dragon! I don't even know what I was going to do with it! Was I going to send a shadow dragon after All Might?!_

They had left soon after she got her reaction from the hero. Sticking around in that area was too risky now that she had drawn attention to herself like the psychotic, hate-driven gremlin that she was. It really was a shame. She had returned more or less empty-handed. While she had not been able to kidnap the angry, explosive teenager, she had acquired a somewhat cute school uniform.

_I messed up._ She released a sigh and crossed her arms in front of her on the counter. Somewhere behind her, Twice was asking what happened and Spinner was attempting to explain the situation. _I can't believe I didn't get anything out of this. We were going to impress Shigaraki. I was going to make him happy. _She slumped forward in defeat, sighing again.

"Hey, cheer up, Yami! It'll be okay! We've still got Shigaraki's plan. Besides, we got these disguises out of it," Spinner tried to assure her.

A glance over made her want to almost laugh. The sight of Spinner wearing a school uniform that was at least one size too big, with that choker still around his neck, was just a little too much. It just looked like really weird cosplay. She rested her head on the counter and closed her eyes, her right ear twitching a bit.

"There's probably something we can still do. Right, Twice?"

Kugutsu failed to hear his answer. She was a little too wrapped up in her feelings of absolute failure. Despite the fact that she had managed to erase All Might's smile for a second. Despite the fact that she was now wearing a rather stylish school uniform.

Goose bumps rose on her skin as she became aware of the feeling of being watched. She kept her eyes closed, knowing it was probably just Spinner waiting to see if she would stop sulking. However, this failure was pretty harsh. She had let Shigaraki down. Even worse, now there was no hope of impressing him; he would get that student using his own plan.

A paper coffee cup was abruptly set in front of her face on the counter and her nose twitched. Kugutsu pushed herself upright and caught sight of Dabi standing across the bar, drawing his hand back. "What's this?"

"Got you something." A bottle of water was put in front of Spinner and Dabi smirked. "That's what lizards drink, right?"

Kugutsu stared at the paper coffee cup and sniffed again. Her gaze shifted from the cup back to the other villain. "Seriously?" She pulled the top off of the cup, displaying the steamed milk inside. "Seriously?"

"I thought cats liked milk," he taunted.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like-!" Spinner went silent as the door to the back area opened.

Shigaraki entered the room without even looking around. As if he knew exactly what was going on and which villains were there. He sat beside Kugutsu, moving his seat close enough so that their knees touched. The villain's eyes narrowed when he looked at the cup of steamed milk. Glaring at Dabi, he started to slowly push the cup forward toward the other villain until the cup fell off of the opposite edge of the counter.

If Kugutsu was a normal person, she might have winced or asked if her fellow villain got burned by the hot milk. Instead, being the maniacal fan girl that she was, she began to giggle hysterically. She covered her mouth with a hand, bowing her head to hide how red her face was turning.

Beside her, Shigaraki simply scratched at an itch on the side of his neck. Not exactly proud of pushing a cup off of a counter like a cat. Not exactly remorseful. More than anything, he was pleased to get such a reaction from his fan girl. For some completely mysterious reason, he appeared to be in a decent mood.

She could see it from the corner of her eye. There was something different about him. Extra confidence. It made him come across as even more powerful, even cooler than before. Biting her lip, she stifled nervous laughter.

"That was a stupid joke," he muttered, glaring at Dabi. "She's off-limits to you, freak. The next time you want to play a stupid prank, pick someone else." At his side, his fan's happy, panicky laughter increased.


	22. Chapter 22

NeonHorizon: Just going to take a moment to mention that I started a story for Twice. It's called "Say it Twice". You don't have to read it. I'm just saying that, if you're an obsessive Twice fan like I am, it's there. Also. The next chapter should be pretty interesting. I didn't plan for some of the stuff I ended up setting up for, but it happened that way. Enjoy the chapter, everyone!

* * *

To the casual onlooker, they might look like they were on a date. Just a weird, moderately creepy, couple out on a date on a nice summer day. This was probably how Kugutsu saw it, too. Shigaraki was unsure though; he was busy contemplating the big event coming up.

The others had all been told their parts in the plan to capture Bakugou. The only one left was Kugutsu and he had saved her for last on purpose. Mostly because he was unsure of what role he wanted to give her.

Chewing on his lower lip, he watched her from the corner of his eye. She was dressed casually in a pair of black shorts and a black shirt with long mesh sleeves so her skin could touch shadows if she needed to use her quirk. He hated it. He really hated it. Shigaraki found himself thinking that she actually looked cool dressed this way.

_She's a good stealth fighter; like a rogue. But she can tank, too, if she uses shadow shields. She could fit into whatever role I need her to, just like a good follower. So why is this so difficult?_ His eyes narrowed as she glanced over, her cheeks tinting pink faintly.

He saw her nearly bump into a young man in her moment of distraction and moved quickly to intervene. Shigaraki's hand darted out, gripping the girl's sleeve with four fingers and yanking her toward him sharply. She stumbled a little, fell against his side, and blinked in surprise. Instead of snapping at her, he glared at the man. "Watch where you're going."

"Sorry, sorry," the guy mumbled, glancing at Kugutsu sheepishly.

Kugutsu, suddenly in professional mode, quickly steadied herself so she could stand on her own. "I'm sorry," she murmured. She rubbed the back of her head, eyes lowered to the ground.

Shigaraki let go of her sleeve and shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. It was hot outside. Unbearably hot. However, neither of the two villains were going to conform to actual summer clothes. It was hard to be intimidating and evil in bright colors.

"I'm sick of this. Take me somewhere air conditioned."

"Oh…okay, sure. Um…?" She turned to look around and spotted a game store. Apparently in too much of a hurry to think about what she was doing, the girl grabbed his sleeve and started leading him to the shop.

He was a little irritated, of course. The thought of being led around by one of his own underlings would probably make his stomach turn if that underling was anyone else. This was Kugutsu, though. Shigaraki had now come to terms with the fact that she was possibly his most important underling.

It was for that very reason that he was so conflicted about where to place her in the upcoming event. Sure, he could send her off with the Vanguard Action Squad. She was a powerful member of his team so she would definitely be useful wherever he placed her. At the same time, he was coming to realize that the reason why he was so hesitant to make a decision was due to an unsettling fear.

Disgust made him scowl as he came to terms with the fact that he was hesitating because he was afraid of losing her. If not in some horrible accident caused by a UA student then by being arrested and thrown in prison. There was no way he could retrieve her if she was put in jail and he already knew that letting her die was not an option.

It had been after that moment in the back part of the bar. When he gave into the impulse to hold his fan, under the guise of it being her reward. That single moment brought him such a boost of ambition and confidence each time he thought about it. His fan gave him power in a way nothing else could.

Kugutsu was walking over to the section for used games and began browsing the selection. She, of course, stole glances at him and covered her mouth when she began to grin. The female villain looked like she might literally burst with happiness. As if his presence alone was enough to force her to lose all control of her emotions. That might have been the definition of how it felt to be in love, but Shigaraki had no idea. He never looked into it.

As he stalked down the aisle of games, gradually making his way to her side, he contemplated a few options for if he did send her with the Vanguard Action Squad. If he sent her, he decided that his best option would be to plant a GPS tracker on her so Kurogiri could have her coordinates if things went sour. That way, Shigaraki could just drag her to safety like when the yakuza were after her.

To be fair, he had been considering doing that for a while now. He was pretty sure Kugutsu would have no problem with it, either. If he told her to put a tracking device somewhere on her, she would probably do it with a smile. Somehow the thought of this really pleased him. A grin stretched his chapped lips, making them sting just a bit as he neared her side.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu saw some old games in the used section that made her feel nostalgic, but she had no plans to get herself anything. If she saw Shigaraki admiring something, she would buy it for him, but this was not a causal day out together. She knew it from the moment he told her to meet him at the bar.

Spinner had told her just the previous night about his role in the mission. They had been playing a game co-op, using a voice chat app to communicate back and forth. He told her about how he was going to be working with Magne and what he was supposed to do. The reptilian villain seemed extremely proud of himself already, despite not even doing anything yet.

_So what am I going to be doing? I really want to be out like Toga and Mustard. They're going to have pretty cool roles and I could do the most damage if I'm in the woods with them. I could even corral the little brats if things get out of hand. I don't trust that creep Dabi to not burn our target alive._

Shigaraki was standing silently beside her, hands in his sweatshirt pocket as he watched her go through the game selection in the bin. He seemed unimpressed with the games themselves. In fact, he had appeared a little distracted for most of the afternoon so far.

Kugutsu's pointed feline ears flattened as she felt disappointment starting to grow. _He's bored, isn't he? Of course! He has any game he wants so why would he care about dumb secondhand games like these? I should've taken him somewhere better. Somewhere he wouldn't be bored. _She tensed, ears perking forward as a hand settled on top of her head.

"Take me somewhere else."

"Ah. Okay, where-?" She looked to her right, past Shigaraki and to the stand across the street. The shaved ice stand, with its adorable bunny wind chime and the little bunny mascot perched on the countertop. Her pupils widened as she began to fixate on the bunnies.

Looking up at Shigaraki, she knew her cheeks were flushed. "You're hot! I-I mean, it's hot outside, right?! Do you want shaved ice?" Her heart thudded so rapidly in her chest that she actually had to press a hand over it and lowered her head to try to hide how painful it felt. _I can't believe I said that though! How embarrassing!_

He turned his head to look where she had been staring. It seemed like he was completely unfazed by her outburst. "Fine."

Kugutsu went ahead of him to get them some shaved ice. She had to make a guess as to what flavor he might like since he gave her absolutely no indication as to what he wanted. As the vendor prepared their treats, Kugutsu stared intently at the little bunny mascot. Her lips were in a straight line and she could feel her pulse still racing, her posture starting to shift into a hunch sort of.

It was horribly embarrassing, but Giran had not exaggerated when he told Kurogiri that she had a fixation with rabbits. It was a secret she tried to keep hidden; the cat quirk she inherited from her father. Of course, being Kugutsu Kurayami, she got only the most annoying cat traits. Such as fixating on prey and getting distracted by dangling objects.

Shigaraki lingered across the street in the shade of an overhang, watching her and probably wondering what was taking so long. He was a busy villain. Most likely, he was starting to get annoyed with the heat and the crowds of people. If he walked away, she would be disappointed, but she would understand.

To her surprise, he was still waiting for her when she returned. She held up the two treats; one red and one blue. "I…didn't know what flavor you wanted," she confessed. "Which one?"

He reached for the red one, grumbling about it quietly to himself. Before taking a spoonful for himself, he watched her dig into hers and seemed content enough when he saw her lick her lips. "What is that?"

"They called it "tropical blue". Do you…?" She held it out to him and blinked in surprise when he leaned closer toward her. "Um?"

"You're smart, aren't you? How do you not understand? Here." He shoved a spoonful of bright red ice toward her, almost stabbing it into her lower lip. Thankfully, she opened her mouth in time and accepted the offering. "My turn."

"Oh! R-right, just a second." Kugutsu gathered some blue ice on her spoon and offered it. If there was any question about it before, there was no doubt now; this was a date. A weird, awkward, villainous date.

She watched him chew on the shaved ice and knew that if he was anyone else, she probably would have slapped him in the back of the head for doing that. The sound of human teeth repeatedly closing on ice made her cringe worse than seeing an awkward high schooler confess their love to an anime poster in the game store.

"So…where will I be tomorrow night?" Kugutsu tried to casually chip at her frozen treat as she asked this. Her heart was racing now with excitement at the possibility of perhaps being paired with Twice or Mustard or Muscular. She could do a lot of damage with any of those three.

Shigaraki's eyes lowered to his ice as he started chewing on his lower lip. It was stained faintly blue from when she gave him some of her shaved ice so it looked just a little more unsettling to passerby. "The bar," he answered without even looking at the female villain.

The girl felt her heart sink into her stomach upon hearing this. All of her girlish, giddy daydreams of creating chaos and bloodshed alongside her fellow villains were shattered with those two simple words from Shigaraki. She released a nervous, high-pitched giggle and shook her head. "That…can't be right though. I want to help! There's a lot that I can do; just put wherever you want. I won't complain and I'll do whatever you need me to."

"…shut up…" he muttered.

"They have a student with a shadow quirk; I could use my quirk to turn it against him, probably. Or I could use my shadows to blind Eraserhead. He's going to be there so someone needs to distract-"

"That's Dabi's job. Everyone already has a job so just shut up."

Kugutsu bristled, frustration building. "I want to do something for you! Let me show you that I can be useful!"

"I made up my mind so just _shut up_." His grip on the spoon and cup tightened. Ice crunched loudly between his teeth and it might have been menacing, but the flower-printed cup made it just look ridiculous to everyone around them.

"I don't want to stay behind and do nothing. I'm…a _professional_, Shigaraki. Please let me prove myself to you."

He violently stabbed the spoon into the cup, glaring at the girl. Her ears flattened and she took a step away from him, almost as if she was afraid. It only further pissed him off. Shigaraki's free hand was soon gripping her upper arm with one of his fingers extended away from her limb. He pulled her close abruptly, his scarred lips twisting into a deep scowl.

"You're supposed to be my loyal fan girl. So why are you arguing with me? I'm not letting you go because you're an uncommon. Got it? You're not a character they just give away as a freebie at the start of the game. You're an Easter egg. You're an unlockable. Do you know how much work gets put into those?"

Kugutsu's stomach felt like it was doing flips. Her pulse was pounding in her ears as his words sank in and her knees trembled. A wide, uncontrollable smile broke out across her face, forcing her to lower her head to hide it. _He…really cares that much about me? I didn't realize how much he liked me, but now…_

Shigaraki released her, his blood-colored eyes narrowing and shifting away from her almost as if he was just a tiny bit embarrassed about the awkward confession. "Hurry up." He started walking ahead of her, listening carefully to be sure that she was following.

She hurried to match his pace, still thrilled by the bizarre love confession that some might not even consider a love confession. She knew though. Why else would he use such sweet terms to describe how important she was to him? This could only mean that he loved her. That was her twisted fan girl logic, anyway.

Kugutsu was so blinded by her own affection for him that she failed to hear her phone ring. If she had and had checked the number, she might have found an unknown number of a particular villain. A villain who happened to be the master of the man walking beside her. A villain she probably should not ignore. Yet here she was, blissfully enjoying Shigaraki's company and being unaware that All for One was attempting to make contact with his protégé's recent obsession.


	23. Chapter 23

"Where've you been?! Do you have any idea what you did?"

Kugutsu had just walked into the office and stared blankly at Giran, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Tilting her head slightly, she kept her face expressionless. "…you're not my dad…"

"This isn't a joke! Damn it." The man ran a hand through his hair, leaning against his desk and grimacing. "You messed up! Why weren't you answering your phone?"

"Phone…?" She rummaged in her bag for her phone and saw that she had missed one call from an unknown number and then a multitude of calls from Giran. To be fair, her phone had been buried under the various gaming supplies and Shigaraki fan gear that she had started toting around so it was probably really muffled when it rang.

_What's this unknown number?_ The girl studied it, trying to decide if she should call it back or not. For all she knew, it might be from a yakuza member that had tracked her down.

"You don't ignore a call from All for One, Kugutsu-chan!"

The phone slipped from her hand and she quickly moved to catch it before it could hit the floor. "A-All for One?!"

"The big boss tried to call you. I don't know what you did, but he was asking a lot of questions. You know how lucky you are that Shigaraki likes you? If he didn't, I'm pretty sure another villain would've taken you out for not answering your phone. I can't believe you ignored his call!"

_All for One…wanted to know stuff about me?_ Kugutsu's ears perked forward curiously. While she was afraid, she was still excited. In her eyes, All for One was the top of the pyramid. The absolute boss. King of the villains. A step even higher than her idol Shigaraki. To think that someone so important had wanted to speak with her was almost unbelievable.

Giran lit a cigarette and pointed it at her. "Call him back, if you know what's good for you."

"Right…yeah." She called the number, her heart hammering in her chest and her posture becoming kind of curled inward. The villain bit at her thumbnail as she heard the phone ring and found herself beginning to pace a little near her desk. She felt eyes on her and glanced up to realize that Twice was apparently in the room with them, but had once again chosen to remain silent.

An hour passed. A long, pulse-pounding hour in which Kugutsu politely and calmly introduced herself to All for One over the phone. She answered all of his questions. She told him her backstory and included every gruesome detail. She explained how she had been working toward being a villain since she was twelve and the lengths she had gone to in order to make herself inconspicuous.

The only time she hesitated was when it came to explaining her quirks. The shadow manipulation quirk was easy enough; she touched shadows and gained control of their shapes and depths. It came from her mother's shadow dancing quirk, which was similar to Kugutsu's, but she had been unable to solidify shadows.

The cat quirk was different. Her father had been even more catlike than she was; complete with fangs, a long sleek tail, and actual claws. He had been very athletic due to his quirk. Kugutsu was far less catlike than he was. She had no claws. She had no fangs. Her tail was a small stump; most of it having been amputated after the accident when she was younger.

When the call was over, Kugutsu was surprised to find the other two still in the room. Giran actually looked a little shocked. Of course, she had never divulged all of her past to him before. Twice was visibly crying through his mask and it made her incredibly uncomfortable.

_I've got better things to do than deal with this. I don't want their pity. All for One gets it._ She walked to her room, head bowed and a grin tugging at her lips. _He called me a valuable asset! I can't believe it! All for One thinks I'm useful! He thinks I have what it takes to be a villain!_

She fell onto her back on her bed and rummaged in her bag. Drawing forth her crocheted Shigaraki doll, she hugged it to her chest and bit back a giggle. _Shigaraki said that I'm special! I still can't believe…how lucky I am! _She rolled back and forth a bit, cuddling with the plush and then finally falling onto her back again. A deep frown took form on her face as she chewed at her thumbnail.

_But I still wish I could go with the others tomorrow. I wish Shigaraki would let me prove myself to him! If I could go with them, I'd be able to show him and All for One how great I can really be as a villain!_

A knock at her open door made her jolt and Kugutsu's head snapped in the direction of her doorway. Her ears flattened in embarrassment and she lowered her gaze, one hand moving to shove her doll under her pillow. "Jin-san. I didn't know you were there."

He asked her what was wrong, in his odd way where he immediately contradicted any concern he showed with a gruff statement that she had to toughen up and stop acting like a kid. The other villain ventured a step into her room, head tilted as he waited for her to answer.

Twice was one of her favorite villains so she explained the situation to him without much hesitation. "So…I guess I'm just disappointed that I won't be able to help everyone else." She saw him rub the back of his head and when he made a suggestion, Kugutsu's face lit up with excitement. "Yes! Jin-san, that's _perfect_!"

**Shift P.O.V**

Shigaraki had heard her phone ringing. He just chose not to say anything. Mostly because he was sure it was Giran or her fan. Just thinking about Spinner calling her made him become agitated. He scratched at his neck as he sat at the bar and glared across the counter.

Kurogiri seemed mildly curious about why he was so annoyed, but chose not to ask. Instead, he decided to talk about something else. "Our master has been asking questions about Kugutsu today. It seems as if she's drawn his attention."

He tensed and sank his teeth into his lower lip. "Why does he care about her? She isn't important. She's just an underling."

The other villain had been pouring a glass of water and paused now, the glowing eye shapes in his supposed face narrowing. "Shigaraki Tomura, I don't think you appreciate the significance of Kugutsu Kurayami. Someone that was self-motivated from a young age to become a villain is extremely uncommon."

He grumbled quietly and slouched, a hand going into his pocket and gripping onto something special. Not that he would ever in a million years refer to it as special. It was just a token from his fan. The good luck charm she had given him.

As much as he wanted to just pretend like this was no big deal, it was actually a very big deal. His master had taken an interest in Kugutsu. Whether it was for her shadow quirk or because of her obsession with Shigaraki, it did not matter. Now she was going to be scrutinized and he, in turn, was going to hear about what his fan was doing.

His free hand scratched at his neck and he scowled. Standing, he shot Kurogiri another glare. "I don't have time for this. Did you really think I'd care about something so stupid? I don't care what happens to her. She's just a playable character. That's it."

Kurogiri waited for him to almost reach the door to the back area before he spoke again. "So what is your reason for keeping her here tomorrow night instead of sending her with the others? Kugutsu Kurayami is a powerful ally. She would do well in a fight alongside the rest of the League of Villains, but you decided to keep her at your side instead."

Shigaraki pressed four fingers to the door, tempted to put the fifth against the smooth surface and just demolish the door in one go. It was bad enough that he had made that stupid, vaguely emotional, confession earlier. Of course, he had never intended to say such sappy words. Kugutsu had forced him to do it because she kept insisting that he send her with the others.

The next afternoon, he waited for her at the bar while the rest of the villains went to the UA summer training camp to capture their target. As disgusting as it was, he actually found himself looking forward to spending the next few hours alone with Kugutsu while the others worked. He had certain games in mind that he wanted to play with her and he knew that she would bring him something. She had made a habit of trying to outdo herself by bringing him things that might impress him. Like a cat killing mice or birds and proudly bringing them to their owner.

When Kugutsu showed up, she was wearing that blank look that she often displayed when the other villains were around. Hiding her true emotions and keeping her quirk under control. She managed to keep herself in check until they ventured from the bar to his room.

Her face went bright pink upon sitting beside him at the computer, a smile tugging at her lips. She looked absurdly happy without even doing anything. Kugutsu's hips wiggled a bit, as they often did when she was so giddy she simply could not stand it.

"I want to get some items before our new member gets here," he explained. Shigaraki produced his handheld console and grimaced when he saw the distance between himself and Kugutsu. He hooked a leg through part of the bar seat and dragged it closer so she was just sitting a few inches away.

The game started and he found himself glancing over at her. Shigaraki remembered what Kurogiri said about his master taking an interest in Kugutsu. It was still baffling. To Shigaraki, she seemed like she should only be special to him. He was still perplexed by how enthusiastic Spinner was about her.

_It doesn't make any sense. She was just a broker's assistant. She barely even qualifies as a villain. So why does my master care about her? Why should anyone else care about her? It's not like she cares about them. She's my fan. My loyal fan…_

Kugutsu was smiling beside him, her head bowed and her scruffy black hair falling forward. It seemed like she had realized he liked her outfit the day before. Instead of wearing her villain costume, she was wearing black shorts and black shirt with mesh sleeves.

Shigaraki grumbled and paused the game. The girl sitting next to him looked up in surprise and began to quietly purr when he rest a hand on top of her head. "You're happy you didn't go, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah…I'm really happy," she admitted. Kugutsu subconsciously nuzzled her head against his hand, her face turning red with embarrassment.

"You're better off with me anyway. If I'd let you go, you would've caused a bloodbath. I can just imagine my faithful fan girl tearing those hero students to shreds."

**Shift P.O.V**

"I want to tear these hero students to shreds. Look at them. I thought that school was supposed to be professional, but they're running around like the brats that they really are."

"Yami, that was pretty dark." Spinner looked at her from the corner of his eye and saw her lick her lips. He knew next to nothing about cat body language, but he could guess that this was probably what a cat looked like when they were contemplating murder. Not that he really minded.

This was different from the last time she was prowling. They were at least hidden in the forest this time so there was no chance of drawing the attention of someone who would arrest them. Rather than get worried like last time, Spinner was excited to see her go after the students.

Her ears were drawn back and flattened, hips swaying side to side lazily as she stared down at the training camp in the distance. She wanted to protest, but she knew it was dark. However, she wanted to see blood and chaos. It would really just be the cherry on top if she could scar at least one of those hero students.

"Of course it's dark; she's Yami-chan," Toga argued with a small grin. She came up beside Kugutsu, standing way too close for comfort, and looked up at the older villain with sparkling eyes. "Hey, hey. If you make them bleed, use one of these to get me some blood, okay? Some _yummy_ blood, okay? You're a girl, too, so you know to go after cute ones, right?"

Kugutsu's brooding, villainous image was shattered by Toga shifting the topic of conversation from potentially maiming heroes in training to finding cute people. She narrowed her cat-yellow eyes at the blonde, but stuffed the droppers into a pouch on her belt. "If I have my way, you'll get tons of samples."

"Easy there, kitty. We're just here to grab that one kid." Dabi set a hand on top of her head, ignoring the way she bristled. "Weren't you supposed to stay behind and keep the leader company?" he taunted.

"…I'm not an escort…" she growled back, despising his tone.

"Nah. Escorts wouldn't do it for free."

"She's doing it for love," Toga argued.

Kugutsu thought of Shigaraki in that moment and forced her features into a blank expression. She loved him. She would do anything for him. Which was why she simply had to take part in this capture mission. He would see how well she did and he would be proud of her. That was her ultimate goal this night.


	24. Chapter 24

NeonHorizon: Which Kugutsu is the real one? How many UA students will be shredded by the shadows? Friendly reminder that I don't condone murder and I don't condone relationships like the one Shigaraki and Kugutsu have. I know it's messed up. This whole story is messed up, but I love it...

* * *

"This is impossible." Shigaraki dragged his nails along his neck as he glared down at the puzzle in the game. The only thing left keeping him from the item he really wanted. He heard a quiet, but rapid, tapping beside him and looked to find Kugutsu's character repeatedly striking at the gate to the puzzle area with her blades. "Maniac."

"We just…have to break through somehow," she mumbled. "There has to be a way. I'm going to get that item for you; I won't stop until you have it."

He had to admire her dedication. This was a highly coveted item in the game and some players spent a lot of money to get it traded to their character. It was highly coveted, but also highly difficult to obtain. Even the online tutorials and guides were unable to help most; it was just too complex. Yet she was prepared to continue working at this until he got what he wanted.

"You think using brute force is going to work? I thought your character was an elf; not a barbarian."

Kugutsu bit her thumbnail as she studied the screen, her character no longer attacking the gate. "No, but sometimes with these, they put in a weak point. Like that RPG with the hedge maze. There's a point near the first corner and if you try to walk through it with a weapon out, it blocks you. If you go through unarmed, it lets you pass through it."

Shigaraki leaned over, eyes narrowing. "So why is your character armed?"

Her ears flattened in embarrassment and she clicked a few buttons to put away the blades. "Just let me try to work through this. I'll get that item for you, even if I have to die a million times. I can just brew some more potions and buy revive gems. I'm going to get that item."

Once again, he found himself mildly impressed by her dedication to his happiness. He watched her attempt to slip through the gate a few times; trying various spots and button combinations in the hopes of making it work. A few minutes passed as he wondered how she would react to their potential new member when he arrived. She was so vicious. He loved it, but he had to keep her under control or she might actually murder the boy.

Just as he started to consider keeping her separated from the kid, he caught the quiet sound of his phone receiving a message. Shigaraki warily glanced to his phone, sitting on the floor beside him, and back to Kugutsu. He knew it was probably important. The Vanguard Action Squad might have an update on their progress or it could even be his master with some instructions.

As he lifted his phone, he saw it was something from Dabi. It was a simple attachment of some sort. The message itself had no text, but the attachment bore the caption "Where's your girl tonight?" Shigaraki bit his lip, glaring at the screen as he gripped the phone with four fingers.

It made no sense. _Why's he asking such a stupid question? And what's that supposed to mean? My girl? She's just my fan girl. It's not like this is something more than that. She's my loyal follower._ Still, he found himself looking over at Kugutsu again as he brought the phone closer to him.

She was staring intently at the screen of her handheld console, clicking buttons as she slashed through an obstacle within the puzzle area. Quiet swears left her lips; more colorful than any language he had ever heard from any other villain. Words that no proper girl would utter, yet here she was murmuring them.

He scooted away from her on the floor, moving toward his bed. Only then did he open the attachment sent by Dabi. Instantly, Shigaraki's blood-colored eyes widened and he chewed viciously at his own lip. A hand lifted, nails digging at his neck as he looked from the screen to Kugutsu and back.

The attachment from Dabi was a photo. It was a really weird photo, though. It seemed to be a picture of Dabi, but in the background was an unsuspecting Toga attempting to take a picture of herself with an equally unsuspecting Kugutsu behind her. In the photo, Kugutsu seemed to be talking to Twice.

There was no way that she could have gone with the Vanguard Action Squad and then still showed up to help him with the game. Not unless Kurogiri had opened a warp gate for her, but Shigaraki knew she had not spoken to Kurogiri at all that day. So now his eyes narrowed on the grainy image of Twice standing with Kugutsu in the background of Dabi's picture.

"You must think I'm stupid," he growled, turning his glare to the girl sitting on the floor. "So much for my loyal fan girl." He stood and tossed his handheld console onto his bed, not taking his eyes off of her as he approached.

"What…? Shigaraki, I don't-" She winced as he planted a foot against the wall beside her head. Kugutsu stared up at him with wide eyes, but there was no fear in her gaze. Instead, she looked sad. Like she had just disappointed the most important in the world. Of course, in her mind, that was exactly what happened.

The blue-haired villain leaned down, a hand reaching out. His right thumb and first two fingers closed on her ear sharply, tugging. She hissed, attempting to shrink back. Behind her, the shadow on the wall was writhing and swaying. Kugutsu lifted a hand on reflex, as if to grab his wrist, but she stopped herself and averted her eyes. "Shigaraki, please-"

"You said you were happy to be here."

"I am! You don't understand! Let me explain! Please!"

"You think I'm as dumb as the others," he murmured, glowering down at his fan. The fingers gripping her pointed, feline ear loosened. His little finger twitched and he traced his fingertips along the edge of the velvety, furry body part. "I don't get it. You say you're loyal and that you'll do whatever I say. You say you'll do whatever would make me happy. So why did you go behind my back and do exactly what I didn't want?"

Her shadow stretched into the shape of a trembling demon with clawed hands reaching out to either side. The thing's arms peeled off of the wall, spread wide as if for a hug. "I don't think you're dumb! Shigaraki, I wanted to show you how strong I am! I wanted to show you I can be useful and I wanted to be able to do more for you!"

"Why shouldn't I just end you right now? It wouldn't matter anyway, would it? Who's going to miss you?" he demanded, fully expecting the double to beg for her life. Instead, he saw her eyes close and one of her hands reached up for his wrist. She was trembling as she pulled his fingers away from her ear and began to draw them toward her throat.

**Shift P.O.V**

"So what's your plan? I thought you wanted to be part of the action. You should've gone with that lizard."

Kugutsu's eyes narrowed on Dabi, but she kept her mouth in a straight line as she walked. On one side was Dabi and on her other side was Twice. Her goal was the same as before; find the kid named Bakugou and cause as much destruction and bloodshed as possible in the process. Unlike certain members that idolized Stain and seemed to have some sort of morals, she was in almost full maniac mode.

"I'm here to help," she stated simply. "Your job is to distract Eraserhead, right? If…Twice…makes a double of you, you're not limited to this area. What else are you planning?" She knew he had his own ulterior motives; he was just the right kind of shady to have some bigger, self-centered plan of his own. Really, he was about as shady as Giran, but with far less charm and instead of smelling like cigarettes, he seemed to carry the smell of burned hair and singed flesh.

In the darkness, Kugutsu smirked to herself. "Nothing like the sweet scent of arson on a starry summer night~"

"That's the second girliest crap you've said since we got here. Cut it out before you make me puke." He smirked as well and lifted a hand, letting bright blue flames dance in his palm. "I'm gonna start burning this place down while my double takes care of Eraserhead. What about you?"

Beside him, Kugutsu stretched her arms over her head and let her fingertips caress the shadows all around her. It was still a little dark, but she could manage control for a while. Three minutes tops before she lost it. What she really needed was some light. "Nothing makes a prettier shadow than a nice, crackling fire."

Dabi saw it from the corner of his eye. As he lit a tree ablaze, she reached out and let a shadow coil up around her arm. It contorted and trembled, solidifying and then traveling along the length of her arm. Spiked, thick armor was formed from the shadow and it looked malevolent. More shadows traveled up her legs and back, wrapping around her chest and shoulders.

Wings made from the darkness extended from her shoulder blades and flapped a few times. Meanwhile, the armor was spreading and finally formed a sort of dark visor over her face to hide her features. The light from his fire cast a cool, frightening glow over her and made her look like something from a child's nightmare.

"Keep your fire burning. I'm going to get some samples for Toga." Her voice came out muffled and low, filtering through the dark barrier around her.

She felt giddy as the wings carried her past the trees. It had been so long since she last made shadow wings. They were nowhere near as strong as real wings, but they still brought her a spark of joy. Like a kid riding their bike at full speed down a hill; pure exhilaration. She could only hope that this fight would be as challenging as her battle with the yakuza had been.

_They're heroes in training. They should be strong enough to be able to take on one villain, right? I really just want to tear into one of them and watch them bleed! Show them a taste of the pain real heroes probably feel and see if they still want to be heroes!_

It was unfortunate that Kugutsu heard something tearing up the forest, off to her right. It was really unfortunate that she spotted the UA student with the shadow quirk. It was super unfortunate that their eyes met, his filled with panicked tears as his quirk forcefully rampaged and hers filled with the excitement of a cat spotting prey.

Her wings carried her closer and closer, her heart rate picking up rapidly. She wanted to turn that massive, shadowy bird thing against the boy. She wanted to make it rip his weak little teenage body in half and spill his blood and organs. He was probably not Toga's type, but his death would provide a good blood sample for her to use.

As she drew nearer, the shadows around her shifted form. They hugged her close, extending along her limbs and lengthening the stump of her tail until she resembled a large, wavering black cat. She charged forward, sharp shadow fangs ready to tear into him.

Dabi was still able to see her. After all, she had used the shadows to make herself look like a huge black cat and she was still partially illuminated by his flames. Since this was the case, Dabi was one of only two villains to witness the UA student's shadow bird thing smack her aside carelessly. The head and tail of her form were snatched up and pulled apart harshly.

"Huh?" Dabi saw something drip from her as the shadow dissipated. "Wait."

This was when Twice appeared beside him and, seeing that Kugutsu had been hurriedly destroyed, set about making another double. He gave it a thumbs-up before sending it off to continue the first double's work. Meanwhile, Dabi was still staring at the gross puddle that had been the Kugutsu he had talked to earlier.

Looking at Twice with a hint of confusion, he received a brief exclamation that Kugutsu was doing it for love and it was cute, but that he was disgusted that he was helping such a sappy girl. She was willing to die again and again in order to do what she thought would make Shigaraki happy.

**Shift P.O.V**

She pressed Shigaraki's palm against her throat, but did not close his fingers around her neck. Lifting her eyes to meet his directly, Kugutsu frowned. "Shigaraki, I…never mean to betray your trust. I just wanted to be able to prove myself to you."

He was leaning down over her, his foot still braced against the wall beside her head. "Tell me why I shouldn't just destroy you right now. I could do it. I could touch you and make you into a gross puddle on the floor. I'll just have Kurogiri open a warp gate and drag the real-"

"I _am_ the real Kugutsu," she protested.

"No, you're not. I know my fan and you would never sit off on the side when you have the chance to go in. You're a psychopath. You probably get off on-"

"Shigaraki, I…love you more than I love doing villain stuff!" Kugutsu saw his eyes widen and her fingertips really gently rubbed circles on his wrist. "I wanted to prove myself to you, but…I wanted to be alone with you even more than that."

It was true. Her bloodlust had lost out to her absolute love for Shigaraki. A love so strong, it was almost unnerving. It was a kind of love that would send most running away. "I love you…" she repeated. "I…love you so much that I wanted to see you more than I wanted to kill those baby heroes."

Something about hearing her speak about love and murder in the same breath brought a wicked grin to his face. "You're the real one?"

"I am. I swear that I am."

"So prove it." He said this knowing full well what it would take to prove she was not a double. She would need to take some damage without falling apart.


	25. Chapter 25

It was getting just a little ridiculous, but only one of the three villains could recognize this fact. Kugutsu sprinted at her prey, shadows enshrouding her and keeping herself hidden as she attacked. Dabi watched as she was either snatched from midair and torn in half or smashed against a tree trunk into a gross puddle. Twice hurried to make another double, who would then begin the process again.

After watching his fellow villain die a seventh time, Dabi decided he had tolerated it long enough. The eighth Kugutsu double was moving to sprint after the shadow quirk student again when Dabi caught her and slung the girl over his shoulder like an otaku with a fresh body pillow for their pillow case love. "That's enough."

"Let me down," she snarled, fingers digging at his back.

He was tempted to let her go die two more times. If not just for the sake of making a joke about cats and nine lives. However, they did have a job to. "Crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

"…don't know what you're talking about…" Her ears flattened in irritation and looked away as Twice followed Dabi.

The dark-haired villain smirked in the darkness. "You already died seven times. You've got two left before Twice stops making more of you. So you're going to make this one count." Twice started to argue, but stopped himself when Dabi turned to look at him. "She gets nine lives. That's more than enough to do some damage if she's smart."

Kugutsu growled and slammed a hand against the middle of his back, touching Twice's shadow. The shadow quivered and then solidified, wavering backwards and then forwards to slam into Dabi's lower back. He was knocked forward and Kugutsu propelled herself forward over his shoulder. She managed to twist and land on her feet, dodging Twice and sprinting off into the dark forest.

She put her hands out to her sides, gathering shadows around her into a big shadowy bird form to cover her and lift her off the ground. Of course, being weaker than actual wings, she was only lifted a short ways off the ground and had to take frequent breaks, but she was determined.

Licking her lips, she felt the happiness bubbling up. The excitement. _I'm going to splash baby hero blood all over this forest! I'm going to scar one of these little brats even if it kills me! _Her heart beat faster and faster as she neared something intriguing. Something, someone, she recognized immediately.

Kugutsu had managed to keep her facial expression blank since she was recreated by Twice. Now she lost her composure. Her lips curled into a broad, wicked grin. A high-pitched, hysterical laugh escaped her as she let herself drop to the ground. She sprinted through the trees, not taking her eyes off of the prey in the distance. The prey with dark green hair and freckles. The prey that was already clearly wounded and would make the perfect gift for her crush.

She could imagine it already. Dragging Midoriya's bloody, dying body back with her to the bar. Dropping him on the floor and showing Shigaraki what she had brought for him. He would be impressed. He would be proud. Hopefully he would pat the top of her head to show his gratitude because she was starting to really like it whenever he did that.

**Shift P.O.V**

"I'll do whatever it takes…to prove that I'm real." Kugutsu stared up at Shigaraki, nervousness twisting her stomach and making sweat bead up at her hairline. She was still gripping his wrist, gently. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. I'll show you I'm real. I'll prove to you how loyal I am."

"You'd do anything I tell you, wouldn't you? Even if it hurts." He saw her nod and he scowled bitterly. Shigaraki glared down at her for a moment and then leaned back. He felt her hand tighten around his wrist and bit his lower lip, feeling the girl's fingertips press hard against his skin. The expression on her face was far from the usual blank, composed look.

She looked absolutely desperate now. Tearful, terrified. Kugutsu almost looked like she was afraid he would leave her. The look on her face was like that of a child suddenly all alone in a grocery store and unable to find their parent. The girl was clutching to his hand, this horribly dangerous hand, like it was something precious. As if losing her grip on him would break her last thread of sanity.

_I'll show him! I'll prove to him that I'm loyal! I won't let him down again!_ Kugutsu lowered her gaze from his eyes to where she was gripping his wrist. It felt like her chest was being squeezed, her ribs feeling as though they were being pressed inward and piercing her heart.

"Twice said that his doubles can take as much damage as a broken arm before they come apart," she murmured. The female villain shifted her gaze to her own right arm, traveling along from where her hand held Shigaraki's wrist to her elbow. Thinking about it made her stomach turn. She was imagining her arm snapped in half, the elbow bending the wrong way.

Before she could even start to determine how she would break her arm, her idol seemed to have a change of heart. Shigaraki grumbled and walked to retrieve his handheld console. "What good would you be then? You'd be useless." He slid down the wall beside her, settling on the floor. "Stop crying."

Kugutsu blinked, just then realizing that tears were rolling down her face. She grimaced and wiped at her eyes with her mesh sleeve, the hole-filled sleeves not helping even slightly. _I can't believe I'm crying in front of him. He probably thinks I'm so lame! I just wanted to impress him! How did this turn into such a mess? I just want him to think I'm cool!_

A hand rested on the top of her head and her heart skipped a beat. She felt four fingertips gradually migrate to the same ear he had gripped earlier. The girl tried to ignore the warmth rising to her face and instead picked up her console again. "L-let's get that item for you. We're running out of time."

**Shift P.O.V**

She really was insane. He watched her from the corner of his eye, trying to guess how exactly she intended to break her arm. Shigaraki knew she was going to do it unless he stopped her. She was his maniacal, bloodthirsty, possibly rabid, fan girl. Her loyalty was so great that she was willing to break her own arm to prove it.

He had never had someone so completely devoted to him before. No one looked at Shigaraki the way that she did. No one had ever clung to his hand the way she had and she held it as if it was something important to her.

His gaze lowered to his hand now as he thought of that moment when she brought it to her neck. If she had managed to get all of his fingers to touch her at once, she would have been dead. Kugutsu would have died right in front of him, crumbling away in decay. She had enough trust in him to bring his hand against her throat and believe that he would keep his fingers from touching her all at once.

Even now, she was frantically clicking buttons on her console as she tried everything possible to get him the item he wanted. He watched her do this and felt his heart doing that thing again. That weird pounding, skipping sort of thing that he hated. Not having felt like this about another person before, he assumed he was probably getting close to having a heart attack or something.

Shigaraki noticed her gradually moving away from him as she focused on her game, turning slightly. His hand drew away from her ear and he scratched at his neck as he scowled. "What're you doing?"

"Ah. Sorry, I-" She released a quiet yelp when a finger hooked into the back of her shirt and yanked her backwards.

He let her fall against him and grumbled, his arms going around to the front of her with his console. Now he could play, but keep her close. Not to mention, it probably made her day to feel like he was actually holding her. Shigaraki chewed on his lower lip as he felt her slowly relax. They had one hour before the others would be back with the new potential member.

When Kugutsu finally succeeded in claiming the legendary item, the villain covered her mouth to muffle a strange squeal of excitement. She started to tremble with excitement and held up her console, as if she thought he was unable to see the screen. "I…I did it! Shigaraki, I-!" She turned toward him and went silent when their eyes met.

His eyes narrowed and he gripped the console, keeping his little finger elevated. They had half an hour until the others would arrive. Half an hour in which he had to make a difficult decision. Letting her get near the new potential member had about an eighty percent chance of bloodshed or even murder. She was out of her mind, after all.

In his moment of distraction, he failed to notice her turning toward him. When Shigaraki lifted his gaze from the console screen, he saw Kugutsu staring at him from just a very short distance away. "What're you staring at? You said you'd get me the item. I'm just trading it over-"

Kugutsu, in a burst of either insane confidence or crazy fan girl love, slid her arms around his neck faster than he could react. She hugged him tightly, her face resting at the area between his neck and shoulder. Her breath felt warm against his skin and the villain tensed. His own breathing hitched as he felt her chest press against his and he gripped the console tighter.

"I…I'm sorry that I let you down before. I wanted to show you how much I can help and I just ended up disappointing you. Please just…don't hate me." It almost sounded like the girl was pleading. Desperate, longing. Things that no one had ever felt toward him before. Things that no sane human being should feel toward Shigaraki.

Being the socially inept gremlin that he was, he had no idea how to react to this show of affection. Clearly she wanted his approval. She wanted reassurance. She probably wanted him to hug her back, but he was Shigaraki Tomura. There was a better chance of All Might frowning than Shigaraki actually hugging back.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled. He wanted to pull away, but at the same time he enjoyed it on some bizarre level. It was like staring directly into the sun; mesmerizing and horribly uncomfortable all at once.

"Ah. Sorry! I shouldn't have-!" Kugutsu moved to lean back, arms lifting and going out to her sides. She found herself unable to lean away though.

His arms closed around her, holding up the console so he could see the screen. The buttons clicked as he traded the special item from her avatar to his, all the while keeping her from moving away from him. "I asked you a question. Who said you had to move? If you're going to give me something like this, you shouldn't take it away before I'm ready."

**Shift P.O.V**

_Wait. Does he like this?_ Kugutsu's pulse quickened at the realization that he had let her get this close. He could have pushed her away at any second, but he let the incredibly awkward hug happen and now he was telling her he would dictate when it ended.

Her face went red as she felt his arms press tighter against her sides and she was pulled closer. _It's almost like he's hugging me._ She was unable to stop the grin from spreading across her face. The idea that her crush was hugging her made the girl almost giddy. She felt heat rushing through her at the thought and she slipped her arms around his neck again.

"What kind of fan keeps ignoring a simple question?"

It was then that Kugutsu remembered that Shigaraki had asked her twice now about just what the hell she was doing to him. She tensed for a moment and blinked, her face about two inches from the space between his neck and shoulder. "…it's a hug…" she finally mumbled, painfully embarrassed. "If you don't like it-"

"Why are you hugging me?" He sounded mildly irritated, but mostly confused.

She heard the click of buttons pause behind her back. When a hand reached up to her ear, she tensed at the sudden touch. She bit back a startled yelp and hugged tighter. A fingertip ran along the edge of her pointed feline ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Because I…love you. I wanted to hug you."

To her embarrassment, she began to purr and found herself nuzzling against the side of his neck. Trying to get him to pet more of the top of her head. _What the hell am I doing? I'm acting like some kind of needy fan girl! He's probably disgusted! He probably thinks I'm weak and-!_

"They're here." There was a subtle excitement to his voice as he spoke. Shigaraki had picked up his phone, apparently having received a message while she was distracted by her blissful fan girl moment. He was released from her hold and stood without a word about the weird, barely romantic, moment they had shared.

Kugutsu tucked her console away in her bag and stood to accompany him. He watched her approach and chewed at his lower lip, looking almost conflicted. Like he was trying to make up his mind about something really important. She tilted her head, curious about what he might be thinking about.

Finally, he seemed to make up his mind. He had picked up "Father" on his way to the door and now he fixed the disembodied hand over his face. Shigaraki turned away from her and opened the door. He gave her a beckoning gesture without a word and started walking.

She felt excitement bubbling up, threatening to make her giggle. Kugutsu hid her grin behind a hand as she followed her object of affection down the hallway. This was an important moment. The first big moment for the League of Villains. _And I get to be part of it! I get to walk into this moment with Shigaraki! Today is the best day of my life! Nothing can ruin this for me!_


	26. Chapter 26

NeonHorizon: I'm currently juggling three variations of Shigaraki, along with OC's impression of Shigaraki. So this chapter took me a few tries...Hooray for **FRIENDSHIP**!

* * *

Kugutsu's heart was pounding with excitement when she entered the room with Shigaraki. It was a big moment. She desperately wanted to look and professional so she forced herself to maintain a calm expression. After all, she was about to meet their new potential member. She had never tripped and face-planted in front of this kid so she was getting a second chance at making a cool first impression.

She forced her lips into the slightest of evil smirks as she entered the room, standing at her crush's side. The new potential member was restrained to a chair against the far wall so she was pretty sure she looked evil and amazing right in this moment. In all honesty, she did look like a true villain. Of course, no matter how cool she tried to act, she was still Kugutsu Kurayami so things were bound to go wrong.

What shattered her calm façade was Spinner. The reptilian villain seized her in a hug that lifted her off her feet, tears in his eyes as he exclaimed about how happy he was that she was alive. Apparently Twice had forgotten to tell everyone about the double. Kugutsu instantly bristled and flushed red with embarrassment at the other villain's insanely awkward, fan-fueled show of affection.

That was an hour ago and she was still seething about it. What should have been a huge, amazing milestone in her villain career had been ruined by her friend. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she scowled to herself. _Friend? We're friends though. I have friends. Villain friends._

"Yami-chan, are you thinking about Tomura~?"

She winced at Toga's question and glared at the blonde girl. "Why would you think that?" She managed to keep her voice at a calm, almost normal volume. On the inside, she was screaming. _Who the hell do you think you are?! Who said you could call him "Tomura"? You're not even that special! He picked __**me**__! He said I'm an Easter egg! So what gives you the right to-?!_

"You're _always_ thinking about Tomura!"

Seeing her fellow villain blush, she felt her stomach turn. The happiness in Toga's eyes when she said "Tomura" ignited a fire in Kugutsu. A bitter, fierce fire like the worst kind of heartburn. She wanted to create a spike of solid shadow and force it through the other girl's skull.

Her grip on her composure was starting to fade rapidly. Toga was talking, saying the blue-haired villain's name again and only feeding the rage that was steadily eating away at Kugutsu like a literal fire. Finally, she snapped. Grabbing Toga by the shoulders, she glared at the other girl and leaned down close. "Shut the fuck up! If I hear you call him that again, I'll rip out your intestines and shove them down your throat! He's mine! Do you fucking get it?! I'm not going to share him with any…"

The dark-haired villain's anger was replaced by total confusion when she saw Toga's blush growing darker, her grin growing wider. She leaned back, ears flattening beneath the baseball cap she was wearing over them as part of her disguise. "What?"

Toga's grabbed her in a hug, giggling. "You love him _so much_! You're so cute when you're all lovey-dovey about him!"

Kugutsu blinked, still trying to figure out how this girl had been completely unfazed by her threats of disembowelment and asphyxiation. The last person she threatened with that kind of death had made a pretty nasty mess in his pants. When the hug ended, she scowled and stepped back as she tried to regain her sense of calm. "What's your problem?"

Grabbing both of Kugutsu's hands in hers, Toga brought her face close. "I support your love for him! It's so romantic and cute! You died for him over and over again today! It was amazing! I wanna help you, Yami-chan!"

Again, the other villain blinked in confusion. "You don't…have a crush on him or something?"

"Nope! He's not my type and I wouldn't wanna get in your way!" She looked so happy that she might pop like a balloon animal carelessly tossed into a thorn bush.

_What do you mean he's not your type? He's amazing! How you not like Shigaraki?!_ Fighting back that weird spike of anger, she shook her head. "Well. Cool." She bit her lip and looked away, forcefully withdrawing her hands from the blonde's grip. "Come on; we've got a job to do."

Toga walked beside her, still wearing that giddy, giggly little bitch expression on her face. "I made so many friends today, Yami-chan." Her grin grew a bit more. "They were so cute! I can't wait to see them again!"

"What? So are you in love with them?" Kugutsu knew there was no getting away from this topic. Toga wanted to talk about love and she was going to continue bothering her until she was satisfied.

She nodded gleefully, hopping a little and moving closer to Kugutsu. "Isn't it great?! You like it, right? Being in love just feels so amazing! It's the best feeling in the world to be in love with someone!"

_In love…_Bowing her head, she tugged at her baseball cap. "All that matters is looking cool. I want Shigaraki to see me as cool and powerful. Spinner ruined that for me today. I looked so lame!"

"No way! Tomura totally loves you!"

"I didn't say anything about that. What the hell-?"

"I can tell 'cause he looked so jealous when Spinner hugged you," Toga stated, wearing a sheepish expression now. "It's so romantic…"

_Romantic?_ Remembering everything that had happened between them while they waited for the others to arrive, Kugutsu's heart skipped a beat. Just thinking about how he had basically hugged her made her face heat up until it felt like it was glowing. _And he was jealous…_

**Shift P.O.V**

_That moron. Who does he think he is?_ His nails dragged over his neck as he glared at the reptilian villain. Spinner was talking to Kurogiri at the moment, still hyped over the semi-success of the mission. Completely oblivious to how he had singlehandedly killed the mood seconds after Shigaraki and Kugutsu made their appearance.

It was especially irritating because he had almost been in a good mood when he entered the room. Kugutsu's random hug earlier had made him feel pretty good. Important. Strong. Confident. So when he entered that room, he was prepared to come across as such. Seeing his fan girl get swept into a hug not only threw him off, but it completely obliterated his good mood.

Just thinking about it made his stomach turn. He hated this feeling and he wanted to say something scathing, something venomous, to get back at Spinner. Something that would make him never touch Shigaraki's fan again. Honestly, the hug was pretty bad. Coupling that with the fact that he was crying his little villain eyes out like someone had just stolen his last piece of candy just made the whole thing kind of cringey.

"So what'd you do?"

Blood-colored eyes shifted to Dabi, who had apparently seated himself next to Shigaraki at the bar. "What're you talking about?" he grumbled.

"You had that psycho alone for a few hours, right? What did you even do?"

"That doesn't concern you."

Dabi smirked and decided to change the subject only marginally. "I saw her die nine times today. You ever see a cat go through all nine lives in one night?"

Shigaraki knew that the double must have perished at some point, but he had no idea she had gotten herself killed so many times. Not that it really fazed him in any way; he was just slightly amazed by the number. Of course, now he was forced to think about the fact that he could have easily killed the real Kugutsu just a few hours ago in his room, when she put his hand on her neck.

"She got ripped in half a few times, smashed into a tree, smashed into the ground, impaled by ice at one point, and the last double I took care of myself."

The realization that Dabi had, in fact, murdered a version of his fan girl sparked something in him. The first reaction was a bitter taste rising to his mouth. Swallowing bile, he felt sick to his stomach. In addition to this, there was a heaviness in his chest. Like his heart was being pressed by something. Any normal person would probably realize that this was worry and a hint of heartbreak. This being Shigaraki, he glared and wondered if Kurogiri had any antacid tablets.

"You seriously think that kid's gonna join?" Dabi asked, nodding toward Bakugou. "He looks pretty pissed off."

Shigaraki was just a little too distracted by the jealousy and anger currently clouding his judgement. He looked in the opposite direction of where Dabi had nodded, glaring at Spinner. The hatred in his eyes was so fierce, so strong, that it rivaled the glower of a gamer when the final copy of a new release was sold to the customer ahead of them.

"I wish I could've seen Yami fight! It was so dark, she was probably super powerful!" Spinner looked just way too excited. It made everyone around him look at the villain with a bit of disgust. He was acting like an excitable fan boy. Like how Kugutsu acted when she saw Shigaraki use his quirk to take out that store clerk that had been hitting on her. Spinner's eyes were practically sparkling.

"That psycho got ripped in half at least four times," Dabi spoke up. He said this with the obvious hope to shatter any cool image Spinner had of Kugutsu; just really wanting to amuse himself.

"No way!" The other villain's shoulders drooped and his look of excitement fell to disappointment for a second. Then it was swiftly replaced by terrifying enthusiasm. "Next time we'll team up and I'll-!"

"You're not teaming up with her. You're not even the same level." Shigaraki said this quietly and turned his head so his eyes would stop hurting from staring just from the corner. "Yami's a stealth fighter and you're just a warrior class. You're common. So why would an Easter egg unlockable want to pair up with a freebie character?"

Spinner, being into games himself, found the words scathing. Venomous. He winced at that last sentence and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm your leader." Shigaraki glanced toward the door, now wondering what was taking Kugutsu and Toga so long. He had sent them off to run an important errand; getting food for everyone. Of course, he half-expected Kugutsu to return alone, covered in blood, holding up Toga's severed head with a triumphant look on her face.

He released a sigh of irritation and slouched in his seat. _She's my loyal fan girl_, he thought as he remembered Spinner hugging her. The look on her face easily told him how incredibly uncomfortable she was. Kugutsu's arms had hung loosely at her sides, not even trying to hug back. She clearly had no desire to hug the weird, reptilian fan boy. Still, he felt angry about it. The second that she was hugged, he felt an unbearable surge of rage and he had the urge to tear her away from Spinner by force.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu felt an unbearable surge of rage and she had the urge to tear off Magne's sunglasses and stab out the other villain's eyes. Cat-yellow eyes narrowed as she entered the bar with Toga, focused on how Magne was staring dreamily in the direction of where Shigaraki was currently sitting.

Her lips tightened into a straight line and Kugutsu shifted all of the bags of food to her left hand. Reaching up to remove the baseball cap, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Her blood was pumping fast with adrenaline as she kept her eyes focused on Magne.

_She's looking at Shigaraki. That bitch. If she thinks she can have him, I'll gut her. She's not even good enough for him! __**I'm**__ not even good enough so why would she-?!_ Kugutsu felt Toga's elbow in her ribs and glared at the blonde.

"Look at Tomura~" the other girl whispered excitedly.

_What?_ She obeyed and felt her stomach do a flip. Blood-colored eyes met hers and she saw that he was chewing at his lower lip. The sight made her knees weak in the weirdest way. She felt like her face had ignited and she quickly lowered her head so she was looking at the floor.

When they had finished getting food for everyone, Kugutsu had made up her mind that she was going to be cool and impressive when she walked into the bar again. She was determined to make a good impression this time. She had no idea how weak she would feel when she saw Shigaraki.

_He looks so cool, even just sitting there! That's how a villain should look!_ Kugutsu's hips wiggled a bit in her excitement and she lifted her hat to hide the smile spreading across her face. _I need to be like him! I…have to be as cool as Shigaraki!_

"Quit geeking out and bring the food." Dabi's voice snapped her out of her moment. He saw her eyes narrow again and smirked. "You act more like a dog. So eager to please your master," he taunted.

She stared at him coldly for a moment and reached into the bag for the food he had specifically asked for. Maintaining direct eye contact, she unwrapped it and began viciously devouring his food in front of him in quite possibly the oddest and cruelest revenge she had ever managed. "You have bland taste in food," she started. Grinning, she licked her lips. "And an even blander sense of humor."


	27. Chapter 27

NeonHorizon: Just a fan girl with a fan boy having a fan fit. Nothing to see here.

* * *

_I'll never be as cool as he is. He's just sitting there, but he looks so…__**perfect**__. Am I just trying too hard?_ Kugutsu lowered her head when she realized that she had been staring for just long enough to look like a stalker. One hand continued to press buttons on her handheld console as her other hand lifted.

She chewed at her thumbnail, slouching in her seat as she tried to keep her eyes off of Shigaraki. Which was not easy. Kugutsu liked looking at him. She would go so far as to say that she loved looking at him; he was one of her favorite things to look at. That was why she had so many pictures of him on her phone and in her computer. Pictures she hoped he would never find out about because she had a feeling he would be irritated if he found out she had been taking pictures of him when she thought he was distracted.

Her crush, her object of affection, was sitting on her left at the counter. He was literally just sitting there, staring down at the countertop. To anyone else, it might look like he was bored, but Kugutsu was in love and her perception was a bit different. She saw him as being deep in thought. Probably planning his next move or what he would say to encourage their captive to join the League of Villains.

Glancing toward the little hero wannabe, she tilted her head slightly. Earlier, he had fought against his restraints and snarled insults. It might have been intimidating if not for the fact that he was a kid and he had fluffy hair. Instead of looking fierce, he just reminded her of a picture of an angry bunny she had once seen online.

Even more puzzling was the fact that he was now slumped over asleep. It was barely midnight and he had dozed off like a child on a long car ride. Kugutsu wanted to go over and poke him, just to see how heavy of a sleeper the student was. _He looks ridiculous. Can that kid really become a villain?_

Kugutsu ruffled her hair with her right hand, trying to make herself focus. Her stomach hurt since she basically ate two meals. Forced herself to eat two meals; there was no way she was going to let Dabi get away with making fun of her. Now karma was punching her in the gut. She could ask Kurogiri if he had anything for stomachaches, but then she would look weak in front of Shigaraki.

"What game is that?"

She tensed and glanced to her right, where Spinner was now sitting. "It's a monster hunting game."

"That new one that was released last month?" He saw her nod and his eyes lit up. "I should've brought my console! I got that game the day it came out and I play it every chance I get!"

Her right ear twitched and she turned to actually look at him. "What items do you have?" She decided that if he had the item she had gotten for Shigaraki, she would ask him if he wanted to trade it for something. _It would be so cool to have matching weapons with Shigaraki! I'd be able to help a lot more, too!_

Spinner attempted to remember all of the items he had collected, counting them off on his fingers and frowning a little. He only had a few uncommon items, one rare item, but a pretty decent amount of ore. A thought seemed to pop into his head as he straightened in his seat. "Hey, are you sticking around here tonight? If you're heading back to Giran's, I can walk with you. It's safer-"

"Yami isn't going anywhere." The answer came from the villain seated on Kugutsu's left. Shigaraki reached up to pick at a bit of loose skin on his lower lip, scowling and licking at his lips when he had pried it away. The fact that his lip was bleeding a little seemed to go completely unnoticed. "Why would you think it's safer for her to walk with someone anyway? You'd draw attention to yourselves."

The other man's eyes widened and he nodded. "You're right, Shigaraki. Sorry; that was a dumb idea. Yami, if you're staying, maybe I should stay, too. I live pretty far."

Behind the bar, Kurogiri's glowing yellow eyes narrowed. Clearly, he was irritated with the idea of so many people staying in the bar for who knew how long. He was probably imagining all of the liquor bottles smashed, the glasses broken into tiny shards, the bar seats busted and the floor scratched. Imagining all of the horrible property damage that could, and most likely would, occur the second he left the bar.

"Perhaps we should limit the number of those that stay behind," the shadowy gentleman behind the bar pointed out.

"No one else should leave tonight. If a hero sees one of these commons, it's game over." Shigaraki turned his head to glare over his shoulder at the others. "I don't trust them."

As he said this, his knee touched Kugutsu's and made her heart skip a beat. She bowed her head, trying to hide the color rising to her face. "Y-yeah. He's right. Kurogiri, no one else should leave tonight. Toga and I look kind of plain so no one even noticed us. I don't know if anyone else could pull it off."

"Sorry," Spinner muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

Her upper lip twitched into a brief scowl and she ruffled her scruffy dark hair. "Don't apologize for something you can't help. Nothing pisses me off more than when people do that." This was true. Plenty of times, criminals or villain wannabes would beg and blubber apologies when Giran sent her after them. Half the time, they were dying because their boss refused to pay Giran; it was out of their control. Not that it stopped her from slaughtering them and dancing in their bloody remains like the maniac she was.

With the realization that no one was leaving, Kugutsu had to face a very unsettling thought. Turning as Shigaraki had in order to look at the collection of villains, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. She was sure that this was the strangest slumber party anyone had ever had the pleasure of being a part of and she had the honor of being there.

**Shift P.O.V**

There were various approaches he could take when it came to convincing the kid to join the League of Villains. Shigaraki had studied him during the UA sports festival and the teenager obviously had a temper and some sort of obsession with winning. Scratching his neck, Shigaraki thought about how immature that obsession was. Even if he could use that to his advantage.

On his right, his fan girl was hanging out with her fan boy. After it was settled that no one was allowed to leave the hideout, Spinner started asking about her game and the other games she had in her bag. They talked about different genres, different games they both loved, and that new RPG that would be released soon. They both looked so content that it made his stomach turn.

"S-so is that your real villain costume? The double was wearing something else." Spinner looked down at her clothes, failing at subtlety like the awkward shut in that he was.

Shigaraki's eyes narrowed, watching the two interact from the corner of his eye. Kugutsu was still slouching next to him, but had leaned over a little for Spinner to see her screen while she played. Their knees were no longer touching and it irritated him. It was almost as irritating as the sight of that black choker necklace that Spinner was wearing. A black choker necklace identical to Kugutsu's. He was wearing it like some kind of creepy friendship necklace.

"I like this costume better," she replied without looking up from the screen. "It doesn't cover as much skin so I have more options for touching shadows. And…" Kugutsu's ear twitched as she briefly glanced toward Shigaraki. Her freckles quickly disappeared against her blush as she looked away again. "Someone important said they liked this look so…"

He bit his lip, feeling his heart beat faster and harder. It kind of hurt, but at the same time he felt a rush of confidence. A boost to his ego, with such a simple sentence. Hearing her call him "someone important" made him feel immensely important. Almost, dare he believe, happy.

There were way more important things that he should be thinking about. Such as how he would persuade their captive to join them, how they would evade being caught by heroes, how he could possibly go to his room for the night without looking like he was just a weakling that needed to go to bed early. In all honesty, he just wanted to get away from everyone so he could think clearly. Everyone was talking and it was wearing on him.

"It looks pretty cool," Spinner remarked. "It's better than the costume your double was wearing."

He tensed and turned his head toward the green-skinned villain, chewing on his lower lip roughly. When he heard the girl next to him mutter a "thank you", he found himself even more irritated. "What do you know about costumes? You look like you're cosplaying as Stain. And why are you wearing the thing on your neck?"

Spinner subconsciously lifted a hand, tugging slightly at his choker. "I admire Stain so I modeled my costume after his," he protested.

"Why are you wearing that thing on your neck?" Shigaraki repeated, pointing and glowering past Kugutsu at the other man.

"I admire Yami's strength so-!"

"You look like a creepy fan. What're you going to do next? Are you going to start dressing more like her now?" The blue-haired villain leaned toward the two and tapped a fingertip against the bar counter. "Stalker."

"I'm not-!" The other villain was obviously flustered by this accusation and looked from Shigaraki to Kugutsu. "I'm not stalking Yami! I wouldn't-!"

"You're dressing like her. Isn't that creepy?" He leaned closer, his free hand scratching his neck. He wanted this to end. There were other things he should be thinking about. The sooner he got this out of his system, the better.

**Shift P.O.V**

_Is he jealous of Spinner? Is he really jealous?_ Kugutsu felt a tug at the back of her sleeve and looked to find Shigaraki gripping the mesh material between his thumb and index finger. "It's kind of weird," she conceded.

Though it was kind of flattering, in a creepy, yandere sort of way. The "let's be friends forever, look at me because I'm dressed just like you, let me watch you sleep" sort of way. Basically, the exact way she probably made Shigaraki feel.

"I'm wearing it because I admire you! You're cool!" Spinner argued. "Yami, listen! I'm not a stalker, I just like-!"

"If you continue at that volume, you will wake our guest," Kurogiri finally stepped in. He seemed to be turning his head to look at the teenage sitting slumped forward in the chair, his head bowed and hiding his face from their view.

"Sorry," he mumbled, slouching in his seat.

"Shigaraki Tomura, since you have forbid the rest of the members from leaving tonight, what do you propose for sleeping arrangements?" It was pretty clear that Kurogiri was getting uneasy about the idea of everyone sleeping in the hideout that night. Between the tense way he asked this and the way he kept glancing anxiously toward his glassware, it was obvious that he was not okay with the decision to keep everyone there.

Kugutsu, on the other hand, was feeling ecstatic. She was specifically excited about the possibility of getting to see her crush's sleeping face. Unfortunately, her luck was never that good. She was Kugutsu Kurayami; things rarely went the way she wanted them to. The most realistic scenario was that she would sneak into his room, find him glaring at her from the computer, and then she would be tossed out.

Shigaraki probably already had it all planned out. At least, that was what Kugutsu assumed. As if he knew what she was thinking and just wanted to prove her wrong, he grumbled and got up from his seat. "I don't care. Do what you want."

She watched him stalk toward the door and found herself chewing at her thumbnail anxiously. _That's it? I thought he would have a plan. So where do I sleep?_ The girl ruffled her hair with her free hand and slouched, releasing a sigh. She was tired, but she was not about to admit it and make herself look like the sleepy little baby hero across the room.

The second that Shigaraki was gone, Dabi announced that he was going out. Kurogiri protested, but it went completely ignored as the charred ragdoll man slipped out into the night. Everyone else seemed alright with staying. However, Kugutsu was now tempted to track Dabi. With her quirk, she could easily make herself disappear into the shadows and follow him without him noticing.

Really, she wanted to pry the staples out of his face one by one with the tip of a knife. _Shigaraki said for everyone to stay here. Who does he think he is? That half-toasted marshmallow. Trash panda freak._

Spinner, still sitting next to her, followed her gaze. "You want to follow him, don't you?"

"I want to know what's so important that he's going against his leader's orders," she stated, trying to keep her anger under control. She hovered a hand over the surface of the counter, sliding her other hand underneath. A blade formed from the shadow cast by her hand and it slowly solidified until she could grip it. Her pulse quickened, excited by the idea of tracking Dabi like prey.

She was still disappointed about not being able to watch Shigaraki sleep so this was a nice consolation prize. Turning her hand to look at the knife, she nodded to herself. "We'll be quick. And we'll be right back."

"Kugutsu, I would advise against-" Kurogiri began.

"Let me do this for Shigaraki. I'll bring Dabi back."


	28. Chapter 28

NeonHorizon: I haven't decided if I want to follow the actual timeline or go a bit rogue. If I go my own way, I won't alter events too much, but it will make things a bit more interesting. What do you think?

* * *

He glanced toward the door for the third time since sitting down at the computer, absently chewing at his chapped lower lip. Shigaraki was getting impatient. When he left the bar area, he expected her to follow him. Fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sign of Kugutsu. No footsteps approaching his door, no hint of her voice out in the passage.

Slouching in his seat, the villain released a frustrated sigh. _What kind of fan is she anyway? She says she's a loyal fan and then she hangs around with those others even after I leave. She should've followed me._ He tipped his head back, nails digging at his neck as he listened closely for her approach.

Still nothing. This was more than just irritating; he was actually a little confused. Kugutsu was his loyal fan girl. His loyal, maniacal, probably rabid fan girl. He was sure she would have followed him. He honestly would not have been surprised to wake up in the middle of the night and find her watching him sleep.

That was a thought that would probably freak out most people, but he was every bit as peculiar as she was so he thought it would be her way of showing her love. Thinking about that made his irritation fade slightly and he closed his eyes. For him, the night was still young. She would probably wander into the room in a few hours, covered in blood, with some sort of gift for him. That was just how she was and he actually liked that.

Slouching forward again, he reached for the computer mouse and started a game. Something to distract himself from thinking about his fan. _She's insane_, he thought as he selected single-player mode. He could easily imagine her waving a knife around, threatening Toga and Magne in a fit of yandere jealousy. The mental image made his lips twitch at the corners into a wide, evil-looking grin.

Shigaraki definitely should have been concerned after that thought crossed his mind. Any normal person probably would have run out there to make sure that everyone was alright. Villains or not, they were still a group that was supposed to work together toward a common goal. That would be a little difficult if Kugutsu murdered half their members.

As his game progressed, he decided that there was no chance that he would let her sleep in his room. He just wanted her to be there until he was ready for her to go. Letting her sleep there would be hazardous. She seemed like the kind of fan that would cut his hair and pin it onto a doll for her to carry around everywhere with her. He had seen the handmade Shigaraki doll in her bag and he knew she was less than stable.

After half an hour had passed, Shigaraki finally grew impatient and abandoned his game. The fact that he had made himself wait for that long was pretty impressive, even to him. Now, as he stalked down the passage toward the door to the bar, he considered what he would do and say.

If she was hanging around Spinner again, he would have a hard time controlling his anger. Every time she got close to that villain, it felt like he was being taunted almost. He hated it.

Of course, if she was keeping her distance, if she really was picking a fight with one of the others, he would be pleased. He might even reward her somehow. How, he was unsure. Probably by petting her ears. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy it every time he touched her, which he still found insane.

Emerging into the bar, he lifted a hand and picked at the dry, chapped skin of his lip. Scanning the bar for his fan girl, a disgusting blend of disappointment and irritation bubbled up. Kugutsu was nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, Spinner was also missing. On a less interesting note, he did see that Dabi and Twice also appeared to have wandered off.

Toga had settled into a corner, dozing off. Compress and Magne were discussing how the plan had come together. Kurogiri was behind the counter with a subtle aura of defeat around him. Shigaraki made his way over to the counter and glared across at the other villain. "I said no one was allowed to leave."

"Have you heard of the term "herding cats" before, Shigaraki Tomura?"

He settled on a bar seat and scratched at his neck, eyes narrowing further. "I don't care about cats," he grumbled. "You had **_one job_**."

"I did my job to the best of my ability. Half of the League is still present. I apologize that Kugutsu slipped out-"

"I don't care about cats," Shigaraki repeated. "You're a failure. You couldn't even keep everyone here when I told you to. What good are you to me if you can't do something as simple as that? I didn't want anyone to leave and now-"

"I believe I heard Yami say she was going to bring Dabi back. She seemed excited," Compress spoke up.

Kurogiri, unfazed by the verbal abuse from Shigaraki, added to this. "Kugutsu mentioned doing this for you, Shigaraki Tomura. I can only assume that she's trying to bring Dabi back in an effort to impress you."

_Impress me?_ His nails dug a bit deeper into his neck as he glared down at the surface of the counter. _She wants to impress me. What a good fan._

**Shift P.O.V**

"I just want to talk to him," she whispered, clutching the knife tighter. Kugutsu crouched a bit lower, her feline ears twitching as she listened to Dabi's footsteps on the sidewalk.

She and Spinner were currently hiding around a corner, following the charred-looking freak at a distance. The girl could feel an excited grin forming on her face and lifted a trembling hand to cover her mouth. _Look at you. You have no idea that we're even here. Just where do you think you're going, you half-stitched ragdoll? Are you meeting someone? Are you going for a drink? Are you going home?_

Beside her, Spinner had his back pressed flat against the wall as she watched Dabi. As many times as she said she just wanted to "talk" to Dabi, he had doubts about her real intentions. No one carried a knife with them to go "talk" to someone. He came along for two reasons; to spend time with his friend and to hopefully make a good impression on Shigaraki by helping to wrangle Dabi.

The footsteps paused and Kugutsu knew he was probably looking over his shoulder to be sure no one was following him. She felt her heart beat even faster and she looked toward Spinner. His eyes were a bit wide, watching the shadows behind her coil and twist in her excitement.

Her free hand darted out to grab his and she was barely able to hold back a giggle. "This way…" she hissed. Kugutsu kept her footsteps light, sprinting along down the next alley while half-dragging Spinner. She wanted to do something big. Something amazing that would let her quirk shine and let her show how strong she was. Of course, this could go horribly wrong. She might even die.

_Dying while trying to impress Shigaraki. I can't think of a better way to go_, she thought as she bit her lip. A glance toward Spinner made the other villain suddenly look away and rub behind his neck. "Your quirk lets you stick to things, doesn't it?" she asked, keeping her voice just barely a whisper.

"Huh? Yeah; I can stick to walls and stuff. You need me to do something?" His tone was one of excitement. Clearly, he liked the idea of being able to help. Rather than receive an answer, he found her putting a hand on his shoulder and nodding in a silent instruction for him to crouch.

Before Spinner could question her, Kugutsu climbed onto his back. Her legs wrapped around his waist, ankles hooking in front of him, and her arms went around his neck to steady herself. "Up. He's going to be here soon. Climb up to the edge of the roof and I can take it from there once I know the level of shadows up there."

"R-right! You got it, Yami!" He began to scale the side of the building, moving as fast as he could. When he heard the echo of footsteps below, he paused and looked down. Dabi was below them, looking around. By some miracle, it seemed as if he had yet to notice them. Spinner finished his climb swiftly after this and was soon collapsed on the rooftop, sweating with nervousness and looking to Kugutsu.

"You're pretty fast," she remarked. "Don't think I could've done it that quick. It was pretty close, too."

The villain rubbed his neck again and shrugged. "So what's next?"

"Next…" Kugutsu ruffled her hair and looked around a little, trying to determine their next move. Her first instinct was to just leap down onto Dabi from above and stab him through the throat, but something told her that Shigaraki would be a little annoyed with her if she did that.

_This has to be impressive. Cool._ She licked her lips and tilted her head, crouching at the edge to peer at Dabi through the darkness. The villain was still in the alley, apparently content with taking his time meandering to his destination. Kugutsu felt a twitching and gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself down.

She was getting too excited by the idea of hunting this other villain down like prey and presenting his barely conscious, hopefully bleeding, body to her idol. The disfigured stump that was her tail was twitching because she was too excited. Kugutsu could feel Spinner staring and her face started to burn red.

_If it was someone else, I'd make a net from the shadows and just drop it down on them. But he has those stupid flames. I need to be smart about this or I could get blinded…or burned._ Moving back a little, she chewed at her thumbnail. Spinner seemed to have recovered from the brisk climb up the wall and was now crouching beside her on the rooftop.

"You think talking would work?" she asked, half-joking.

Weirdly enough, Spinner's level of fan enthusiasm seemed to echo her own. He wanted to impress her about as much as she wanted to impress Shigaraki. Clenching a fist, he smirked. "No way! A guy like Dabi wouldn't just come because we tell him to! We've got to take him by force!"

Amused by that enthusiasm, she half-grinned. "You have a plan?"

He tilted his head, staring down at Dabi as the crispy-looking villain started moving toward the end of the alley. "When you fought those yakuza guys, you were throwing up shadow walls to block them and you made those crazy shadow blades on your arms. Can you do that now?"

Kugutsu's left ear twitched and she lifted a hand to test it. She pressed her fingertips against her own shadow and let it flow up her forearm, tapering at the end and shifting into a bladelike shape. It was solid, but she knew that it was just dark enough that if she lost control it would be catastrophic.

"Where's your sword?"

He looked sheepish and frowned. "It broke."

"Do you have any weapons?"

Spinner turned his gaze to her again. "I've got some throwing knives, a hatchet, and a dagger. You have a plan?"

"I've got a _loose_ plan. What you said about the shadow walls sparked an idea, but I'll definitely need backup. I need you to corral him for me. If you can get him to that spot over there…"

The end result was an absolute mess. Spinner did manage to throw a few knives to force Dabi to stop walking and that was when Kugutsu lost control. The shadows that had formed blades along her arms morphed and she started to tremble, giggling loudly. The next few seconds would probably haunt Spinner's nightmares for the rest of his life.

Kugutsu grinned evilly as she regarded Dabi from above and before the half-toasted villain could even process what was happening, she had thrown herself off the side of the roof. Spinner ran after her to try to grab her in time, but it was unnecessary. She had landed on Dabi and was plunging her shadowy arm blades into his torso again and again. Her eyes were wide, her grin unwavering. She hardly seemed human in this moment and it would have terrified anyone normal.

He shivered and hesitantly went over the edge of the roof, using his quirk to keep himself up. He wanted to avoid her until she seemed to snap out of this moment of madness. Of course, being the weird, awkward fan that he was, he admired her show of power. He had never witnessed it in person and he was certainly not disappointed.

She, however, was. As Kugutsu straightened, she twitched and stared down at the muddy mess that had been Dabi. Her lips twisted into a snarl and her eye twitched as she lifted a boot out of the mess. "What the fuck? Where is he?! Show yourself, you creepy, charbroiled edge lord!"

The girl turned to look for him and found her throat being grabbed tightly. Kugutsu was lifted off her feet and her back was slammed against the brick wall to her left. On instinct, she lifted a leg and planted the sole of her boot against Dabi's midsection. An arm raised, pressing the edge of her shadowy left blade against his neck.

"Put me down," she snarled. Her eyes had been wide with excitement earlier and now narrowed with hatred.

"I thought you were looking for me."

"Put me down…or I'll make you _regret_ it. I'll kill your family. I'll kill everything you love. And then I'll kill you. Last chance. Put me down." Kugutsu's heart raced with a mix of panic and excitement.

Dabi smirked down at her, lifting his free hand to display the blue flames dancing over his fingers. "Go for it. You think that scares me? I'll show you what fear looks like." His palm pressed harder against her throat as she struggled, watching her expression closely. "Did you seriously call me an edge lord?"


	29. Chapter 29

NeonHorizon: Crude language warning? Kugutsu swears a lot in this one. It's a little shorter than usual, but I didn't want to end up with a bunch of filler because that wouldn't be interesting for you to read. Next chapter will be extra special because it's a tenth. Every ten chapters, I like to do something a little special so we'll see what chapter 30 brings ^_^

* * *

Kugutsu was unable to talk and she was struggling just to keep breathing. Her mouth twisted into a snarl, baring teeth, as she tried to quickly form a plan to free herself. There was no way she could let herself die. Not because she had any goal that she had to achieve. She wanted to stay alive because death would mean letting Shigaraki down. It would make her a failure.

Dabi was unfazed by the other villain's thrashing and pressed his palm tighter against her throat. The cruel smirk on his scarred, patchy face stretched into a grin that mirrored her madness. "What's wrong, little kitty? You were looking for me, right? Well here I am. You should be glad. I'm doing you a favor." He brought his other hand closer to the side of her face, blue flames glowing brighter.

She gritted her teeth and pushed at his abdomen with the bottom of her boot, using as much strength as she could manage. _Let go of me, you creepy fucking ragdoll! I can't die like this! Shigaraki…is going to be pissed off if I die!_ She slammed her boot against him again and again as she tried to force him away from her. Unfortunately, Kugutsu was having more difficulty breathing and her strength began to fail her.

The female villain's vision started to blur with tears of panic as Dabi's flames got closer. The heat made her skin feel like it was burning without him even touching her. She heard Spinner yelling as he tried to make Dabi back off. Growling at the thought of someone having to save her, Kugutsu used the last of her air to give a strangled shout and swung her arm.

The blade of shadow that had sheathed her arm was now sunk deep into Dabi's upper arm. Blood ran down quickly, dripping from his elbow and soaking his sleeve. He remained unfazed and was close to actually burning her left cheek now.

"Hey! Dabi, you said this was supposed to be a joke! This isn't funny anymore! Keep it up! It's hilarious!"

Hearing Twice seemed to snap Dabi out of his murderous intent and he let go of Kugutsu's throat. She fell to her hands and knees, gasping for air and keeping her eyes closed to block out her embarrassment. "Charred bastard! I'll kill you-!"

"You could've killed Kugutsu-chan! Fair's fair, okay? You killed her, she killed you! You're even now, right?"

"You…fucking _killed_ me?!" She wanted to tear out his throat and present it to Shigaraki as a gift, but managed to stop herself. Instead, she just bristled and glowered up at the villain.

"You both went too far tonight! No more doubles for either of you! Maybe one or two more!"

"Twice, you're not helping! Yami, are you okay?!" Spinner, not knowing what else to do, patted her back as if that would fix everything. Poor, simple reptilian villain; doing his best to cure almost strangulation with a remedy for choking.

"I-I'm fine!" She pushed his hand away and shook her head. Ruffling her hair with both hands, she was now dealing with way more than a fresh villain should probably have to deal with. Not only had Dabi just tried to kill her, but apparently he had killed her double earlier that night.

_Ugly, burning piece of trash! Creep! Asshole! Edgy ragdoll villain wannabee!_ Kugutsu managed to push herself to stand and leaned against the wall as she coughed. Her eyes went from Spinner to the other two. Twice was doing his best to lecture Dabi about not killing teammates and Dabi was doing his best to just ignore him. _Disrespectful shit. First he ignores Shigaraki and now Jin-san? Who does he think he is?_

She reached behind her and pressed a hand against her shadow. It grew and solidified, stabbing outward and smacking into Dabi's back hard enough to send him sprawling forward onto the ground. "_Now_ we're even," she growled. "Let's go, Spinner."

It was quiet again now that they had left behind the charred freak and Twice. It made her feel sick to her stomach to think of abandoning her goal of dragging Dabi back to the bar, but she was smart enough to know when she was facing a losing situation. As rare as that was for her.

Kugutsu had failed Shigaraki, even if she was still alive. She failed to bring Dabi back and now she had to face Shigaraki with her head hung in shame. _I was going to make him proud of me. Now I just look like a psycho rule-breaker like Dabi._

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu had installed a tracking app on her phone the second that he mentioned it. He was a little annoyed by her eagerness at first, but now he was glad she was so eager to please him. Sitting at the counter in the bar, ignoring the sleepy girl villain that was pestering him to reveal where Dabi and Twice were, Shigaraki tracked Kugutsu's location.

The little red dot that symbolized Kugutsu was moving toward the bar at a steady pace. Shigaraki scratched at his neck as he heard her enter and quickly tucked his phone away. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was worried about her. He had just wanted to know where she was.

Any relief that he felt was immediately overshadowed by anger when he saw the dark handprint on her throat. She had her head down as she trudged into the bar alongside Spinner. The reptilian villain was talking to her, apparently trying to cheer her up, but she looked like a cat that had been locked out in the rain all night. He was unable to see her facial expressions since her head was down, but she was slouching enough and had her ears flattened in depression.

Shigaraki's nails dragged over his neck, tearing at the flesh little by little as he felt his pulse quicken. His chapped, scarred lips twisted into a deep scowl as he kept his gaze focused on Kugutsu's neck. On that handprint. Too large to be a woman's. Not the right shape to be Spinner's hand.

_What happened to my fan?_ Not that he was about to decide he was worried about her. What he felt was probably more close to how it felt when a phone charger was borrowed by someone without asking and it was returned with the wire frayed. _Someone damaged her_, he thought as his eyes narrowed.

At his side, Toga yawned and barely covered it with a hand. "Tomura, what happened? What'd I miss?" she persisted.

Normally, Kugutsu probably would have leapt on Toga and threatened to tear her eyes out for calling him "Tomura". She would be seething just at the fact that Toga was so close to him. Whatever had happened to her, it was distracting her.

It was worse than a cat being out in the rain all night. It was like when a pet cat got outside and went missing for a week, only to return covered in wounds and limping. A damaged pet. Shigaraki got up without a word and began slowly approaching Kugutsu and Spinner.

The female villain had leaned against the wall and slid downward so she was seated in the fetal position. Her right hand was lifted so she could chew at her thumbnail. Sitting beside her, Spinner was still talking and trying to lift her spirits. He was sitting way too close though; his knee was touching hers.

It was unfortunate. It really was. Shigaraki, with his virtually nonexistent experience with relationships and romance, viewed knee touching as basically second base. His irritation grew as he chewed at his lower lip and he began pondering something cruel, something scathing, that he could say to Spinner.

"Whoa! Yami, your cheek's all red! Did you get burned?" Spinner, the poor innocent reptilian villain, made the horrible mistake of reaching over to push her hair away from her left cheek.

Kugutsu moved before Shigaraki could and slapped his hand away. She lifted her head, her lips drawn into a tight, straight line and her cat-yellow eyes narrowed into a heated glare. "Don't touch."

"Sorry. That looks bad though. Does it hurt?"

Shigaraki froze in place as Kugutsu's eyes met his. The villain's scowl deepened and he gave a beckoning nod. As she stood to obey his summon, he saw that Spinner was right. In addition to the deep bruise on her throat, the girl's left cheek was a bright, painful shade of red and looked almost like it had started to cook. Worse than a sunburn. It made Shigaraki's stomach turn.

Right as she neared him, the door opened to admit Twice and Dabi. The masked villain was going on about how Dabi should not attack teammates and how he could have killed "Giran's little sister". Dabi looked indifferent as he stalked over to the bar and seated himself. He only showed interest when he happened to look over and see Kugutsu. A smirk tugged at his two-toned mouth.

"What're you staring at, freak show?" Shigaraki glowered at him, daring him to say something. Kugutsu was at his side now. Her head was down and she was fidgeting with her sleeve's hem. This was not the psychotic, eager fan girl he was used to. She was acting like a dog with its tail between its legs.

Seeing her so timid and frightened only made him angrier. He wanted to slam a hand onto Dabi's smug face and watch it crumble away in decay. He fought that urge for the sake of the League of Villains. As annoying as Dabi was, he was a good ally. If he proved otherwise in the future, Shigaraki decided he would end him.

Without another word, he started walking toward the door and heard Kugutsu follow at a distance. Her movements were cautious and she seemed unsure of herself. Sad. Terrified. He hated it so much that he could taste bile at the back of his throat.

It was as he turned to make sure she followed him into the back that he happened to glance toward Dabi again. The half-burned freak had shrugged off his coat and Kurogiri was passing him a roll of bandage from behind the counter. There was a deep gash in his left upper arm. The blood pouring out was so thick, so dark, that it looked almost black.

Shigaraki chewed at his lip and looked to his fan girl again. There was blood all over her right forearm, but it was clearly not her own. Any normal leader would be upset. She wounded a team member, after all. Shigaraki was, thankfully, not normal. He glanced to the wound and back to Kugutsu before leading her into the darkness of the back passage.

As he walked ahead of her, he felt proud of his fan. He knew she set out to bring Dabi back and she had failed, but she had succeeded in wounding him. She had been injured so Shigaraki knew she put forth a lot of effort to try to bring Dabi back to the bar, just so she could impress him.

"…I'm sorry…" She sounded pained and her voice was barely above a whisper. "I tried and I…let you down. I'm sorry."

"Shut up." He entered his room first and gestured for her to sit on the floor. When she obeyed, he sat next to her, pressing his knee tight against hers, and produced his console. "You're staying here until I'm satisfied. Load your game."


	30. Chapter 30

NeonHorizon: This was a challenge! Fun to write though! Get ready for some...really weird stuff.

* * *

He was unsure of when he actually dozed off. Not that gaming until he passed out was anything new. What was new was the thing that had woken him up. Shigaraki felt something warm nuzzle against the back of his neck and that was what had drawn him out of sleep.

Opening his eyes, he realized he was lying on his side on the floor of his room. His handheld console was around two feet in front of him, alongside Kugutsu's. The next thing he noticed was the warmth against his back and left side. It seemed that his fan girl was curled up behind him, her arm wrapped around the villain to keep him close.

Shigaraki's first instinct was tell her to let go and taunt her for getting so affectionate. However, he never got the words out. His body slowly relaxed again as he let his eyes half-close. As irritated as he wanted to be, it felt nice.

Better than nice. Being the socially inept gremlin that he was, his experience with stuff like this was limited. Girls. Affection. Whatever weird thing she was doing with him right now. He had never been held by someone like this before and he found that he liked it. Maybe a little too much, but he would never confess this to anyone. None of the other villains, not even Kurogiri, would ever know this had happened.

He looked down at where her small, pale hand was gently resting against his stomach. Those shining, obsidian nails. The faint scars that marked her fingers from fights in the past. He frowned and chewed at his lower lip. Shigaraki could almost forget what a psycho she was when she acted like this.

As he remained still, letting her settle against his back again, he tried to pinpoint what she was making him feel. This was unlike anything he had felt before. When she would call him "cool" or geek out about him, it gave him a boost of confidence and made him feel pretty powerful. What he felt now was different.

Feeling her warm body against him, her arm wrapped around him to keep him close, filled the villain with something new. A warm, disgustingly sweet, sort of feeling. Like he was secure. Like nothing in the world could bring him down. It was bizarre, terrifying, and above all else it made his scarred lips twist into a sinister grin that could be straight out of a sane person's nightmares.

If he was anyone other than Shigaraki, he might be able to recognize this feeling as being comforted. Of course, he was Shigaraki. He had only the vaguest idea of what it probably felt like to be comforted so this was completely foreign to him. All he really knew, all that really mattered, was that Kugutsu's embrace made him feel happy.

It was such a strange sort of happiness. Warm. Fuzzy. Sickly sweet like a toxic chemical that one might use to poison their enemies at a dinner party. He hated it and he loved it, both at the same time.

To top it off, he found himself thinking that this was sort of like something that would happen in a dating simulator. Unlocking a scene with a character and being rewarded with a still image of waking up next to them. Of course, usually the main character would be the one holding the girl; not the other way around.

He lifted a hand, scratching at his neck as he thought about that. In every situation he had ever seen that was similar to this, the guy was always holding the girl. This was suddenly irritating and he finally moved forward. Her arm slid from around him and he twisted to face her.

Kugutsu's sleeping face was probably cute to most people, but Shigaraki was unsure about how it made him feel. He might feel better about it if not for the disgusting red mark on her left cheek. It was starting to peel a little. Lowering his eyes, he focused on her neck and felt his anger growing. It overshadowed any happiness he previously felt.

Moving closer, he reached out and very lightly touched her neck with two fingertips. His fan girl's normally pale skin was bruised. It looked nasty; a deep, dark shade of purple that almost looked black. It was just now really sinking in, but Kugutsu had almost been strangled the previous night.

There was a weird tightening in his throat as he glared at her bruised skin. The girl's eyes were still closed, lips parted just slightly as she slept. Between the burn on her cheek and the bruise on her throat, his blood was starting to boil. Shigaraki's fingertips drew away from her neck and he scowled.

An arm wrapped around her, pushing her against his chest and keeping a finger lifted to prevent himself from accidentally murdering her. Kugutsu's warmth helped him to calm down a little. His "otaku whose favorite figure has been smashed" level anger faded until it was finally replaced with something else. Satisfaction. Pleasure. It only increased when she started purring in her sleep.

This psychotic girl with cat ears was someone he needed, even if he hated that fact. Even if it was confusing. Even if he would never admit it. She was the only person to ever make him feel the way he felt now. Kugutsu made him feel wanted. She made him feel adored, loved. No one else had ever made him feel this way so when he thought about her dying and losing this feeling, it made his chest hurt.

One arm slid beneath her, around the girl's waist, as his other hand carefully wove into her dark hair. He pressed her closer and felt Kugutsu nuzzle against him in her sleep. Warm breath skimmed along his collarbone and he closed his eyes. His breathing was getting shaky now. It was uncomfortable, but the pleasure was still there. The pleasure of holding his fan girl.

Beneath that layer of happiness was a bubbling, burning hatred. His hold on her tightened, eliminating any space that had been left between them. His teeth closed on his lower lip, chewing anxiously as he kept one finger lifted and used the others to stroke behind her feline ears.

_My fan girl. My one and only fan girl. No one's going to take you away from me. If anyone tries it again, I'll decay their face. I've never had a fan girl before and I'm not going to let someone else steal you. You were made for me, weren't you?_ As if she could read his mind, she leaned up in her sleep and rubbed her cheek against his, purring in contentment.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu was having one of the best dreams of her evil little life. Given, most people would consider it a nightmare. A dream of tearing open All Might's chest, forcing his ribs apart, and digging around in the man's torso to retrieve his heart. Thankfully, it was a vivid dream. Like the kind of horror your mind might produce when suffering from a high fever.

The blood was hot against her hands and the heart pumped as she tried to tear it free from his body. The pulse was loud as she finally wrenched it out and the hero's body went still as he gurgled. Blood leaking from that ever-smiling face. Fingers grasping at the air in a futile attempt to retrieve the vital organ.

Turning away from the nearly dead hero, she found her crush awaiting her. Scratching his neck impatiently and looking away from her when she tried to meet his gaze. She approached and held the heart up triumphantly, putting on the sweetest smile as she tried to contain her excitement.

He set a hand on the top of her head, but kept a finger extended. Leaning down, his chapped, scarred lips met hers and his free hand accepted her gift. All the while, the heart beat louder and louder.

Kugutsu jolted awake, hissing quietly and panicking when she felt arms wrapped around her. The girl's first thought was that Dabi had found her asleep and was now planning to just crush her ribs to end her life. Both hands planted firmly on a pair of kind of boney shoulders and she leaned back.

Instantly, her face felt like it caught on fire. Staring up in the narrowed, crimson eyes of her crush, Kugutsu's heart beat as fast as All Might's had in her dream. The arms tightened around her, Shigaraki's scowl growing deeper. _What should I do?! He's…he's holding me? He's actually holding me!_

The hand that had been on her upper back moved upwards and pushed at the back of her head. Kugutsu's face was pressed into the other villain's chest once more so that her right cheek was flat against him. "Sh-Shigaraki, what-?"

"Go to sleep," he grumbled.

She wanted to argue. She wanted to know what happened because her last memory was of sitting beside him against the wall and kind of nodding off. The fact that she was now lying on the floor with her crush's arms around her was both fantastic and also a little alarming.

Kugutsu closed her eyes, trying to relax. She knew she was tense. Her hands loosened on his shoulders a little and she tried to figure out what she should do with her arms. Hesitating, as if she was about to pet a growling dog, the villain wrapped her arms around his neck.

He tensed for a few seconds before relaxing as well. "Good."

_He's so warm. I didn't think he would feel this warm._ She was glad that he was unable to see her face because her lips drew into a semi-terrifying smiling. The shadows beneath them were starting to twitch and spread, but remained thin and weak. She was so happy that she thought her heart might literally beat out of her chest and cause her to have to pull away.

Basking in this affectionate moment with her crush, Kugutsu found herself purring. Even though her throat hurt. Even though her left cheek felt like the flesh was on fire. She had been held before, of course. Professional or not, she was just like any normal person in that she wanted to feel loved. She had dated guys in the past, but none of them could make her feel the way she did now.

Kugutsu felt needed. She felt like she was half of a puzzle that was mind-numbingly easy since it only had two pieces. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she embarrassed herself by nuzzling her face into his chest. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.

He hesitated to speak, but when he did, he surprised her. Fingers stroked behind her left ear, skimming over the velvety soft fur. "You're mine."

"Ngh…" The female villain tried to bite her lip to silence her purrs, but failed miserably. The combination of being treated so gently by him, like a cherished video game that was limited edition and had sold out the day it came out, made her heart race.

"You're a good girl, aren't you? My loyal fan." Shigaraki seemed pleased when she nodded her agreement and moved his hand away from her ear, letting her look up at him. At the wide, maniacal grin taking form on his chapped lips. Such a big grin that the dry skin cracked open in some places and bled.

"My loyal fan," he repeated. "You like me so much, don't you?" Again, she nodded. "You'd do whatever I say, even if it hurt. So loyal." Somewhat chilled fingers trailed beneath her chin, three fingertips pressing so her head was forced to tip back a bit more. A thumb rubbed along her lower lip as he leaned closer.

Her stomach did a flip and Kugutsu's face went a vibrant, embarrassing shade of red. Like a tomato, but much more shameful. "I…um…"

His eyes narrowed again. "Go back to sleep." The villain's hand drew away from her face and he pulled her closer again. He shifted so his chin was pressed at the top of her head in an effort to keep her from looking at him again.

She was really confused by the odd change in his mood, but obediently closed her eyes. It felt like he was going to say something more. Her pitiful, fan girl heart hoped it was something sweet. _I want to make him even happier. What can I do? I want Shigaraki to be happy! I want him to be proud of me! I want him…to say he loves me! _The thought made her feel giddy and she fought to suppress a giggle.

Kugutsu woke up alone on the floor, but with a black hooded sweatshirt draped over her. She stared at it, feeling like she might burst with excitement. It was definitely his; it even had a few stray blue hairs around the hood. Whether this was a small token of his affection or some sort of reward for fighting to keep herself alive the previous night, she was more than happy to put it on.

Shigaraki had apparently left the room while she was asleep. His console was gone, but hers was plugged into a charger near his computer. In a weird, twisted sort of way, this felt like a "morning after" situation even though they had only slept together in the literal sense of the phrase "sleeping together".

_I had the best dream I've ever had_, she remembered with a half-grin. Ruffling her dark, scruffy hair, she decided to go out to the bar and try her best to impress him again. _I'll do whatever it takes to show him that I can be useful in the next plan!_

Her hopes were immediately dashed into tiny pieces when Kurogiri informed her that he had gone out. As had a number of the others. Spinner was there, as were Toga and Mr. Compress. Kugutsu was going to go out to see if she could track her crush, but then her gaze settled on their "potential new member".

_If I can convince him to join the League, that would be impressive! What's more impressive than converting a baby hero to become a villain? I just have to stay calm and come up with a good way to persuade him. What motivates teenage boys?_ A glance in Toga's direction made her fight down a smirk.

"Are you wearing Tomura's hoodie? That's so cute!" Toga tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Yami-chan? What're you staring at?"


	31. Chapter 31

NeonHorizon: I just realized...I think I got my variations of Shigaraki a little mixed up and we ended up with "Gray Area" Shigaraki last chapter. Oh well. Next chapter will have Kugutsu back to "bubbly fan girl" mode. No worries.

* * *

It was suffocating to stay in the bar. Too many in people in too small of a space. Shigaraki was used to it just being him and Kurogiri with the occasional visitor. Keeping to the back alleys, he was safe enough. After all, he had been able to walk around freely after the USJ incident.

It almost felt like no one was afraid of him and that thought made him start chewing at his lip. The chapped skin was already bleeding a little, but it was the least of his problems. He had a bar full of villains. He had a "potential new member" that was, in all honesty, looking more like a hostage at this point. He had his fan girl, who he had left sleeping on the floor of his room.

When that image popped into his head, the outrage at being invisible started to melt away. _I'm not invisible_, he thought with a sinister smile. _She sees me. Even when I don't want her to. She was made for me._

Kugutsu was probably still sleeping. Curled up on the floor like a cat, one of his hooded sweatshirts draped over her. Doubtlessly dreaming of either him or All Might's gory demise. Hopefully a mix of the two.

Realizing that he had started to wonder what she really dreamed of, he scowled and lowered his eyes to the ground. It was annoying to find himself thinking about her so much, but after the previous night, he was forced to come to a realization. She was more than just a fan girl.

_She slept with me. That means she's…_His eyes narrowed, a hand lifting to tug the hood of his sweatshirt forward more. _What is she?_ The fact that one night could alter his perception of her was irritating.

To a normal person, sleeping next to another person might be a little sweet. It might seem cute. However, this villain saw things differently. Weirdly. For instance, his idea of first base was touching another person's handheld game console and second base was having his knee touch theirs. From his point of view, just sleeping next to Kugutsu was on par with something much more meaningful.

Plugging in her console to recharge. Leaving a hooded sweatshirt with her. These were little things he did before he left the room. Although he was still a little perplexed as to why he did it. Maybe, on some level, he was attempting to be romantic and that was the best he could do with his minimal experience with relationships. If that was the case, it was completely on a subconscious level.

Shigaraki grumbled and rubbed at his left eye with the back of his hand, careful of where his fingers were. He wanted to go back and sleep more, but he hated the idea of feeling suffocated. Not to mention that he still needed to figure out what he would do and say to try to convince that hero brat to join them.

He eventually found himself glaring at a coffee shop, fidgeting with "Father" in his hooded sweatshirt pocket. For the briefest instant, he considered trying to get one of those sickeningly sweet coffees that Kugutsu enjoyed. The idea was pushed away before it could fully form. Standing in line for something as stupid as a coffee, which would be gone in a few minutes, just sounded annoying.

Shigaraki backed into the alley again, picking at the chapped skin on his lips as he considered other, more important things. For instance, their "potential new member". The bar full of villains he had left in order to wander around the city alone like a vagabond. The deep, horrifying bruise on Kugutsu's neck.

Thinking about her injury inevitably reminded him of the smug way Dabi had entered the bar after she had. Wearing a smirk that said he knew what he had done and had absolutely no regrets. The kind of smirk someone wears when they buy the last pumpkin muffin during pumpkin season and everyone in the line behind them knows it and feels simultaneous heartbreak.

The issue of Dabi and Kugutsu definitely needed to be taken care of. Shigaraki knew that if they continued to clash, it would just cause more chaos in the group and make future missions more difficult. Also, they were both admittedly powerful. Dabi's flames were hot enough to reduce a person to ashes quickly and Kugutsu was deadly if she touched a shadow.

_Having two heavy hitters against each other…it's not going to work. If I want to use them to their full potential, they need to cooperate. Kugutsu will do whatever I say, but that singed freak…_He realized that he had been pacing and froze, scowling to himself. Licking his lips, he tasted blood and realized that he had also torn open his chapped skin.

Then came the more important realization; he had just thought of his fan girl as "Kugutsu". Shigaraki could not remember ever thinking of her that way. It had always been "fan girl" or "fan". To think that he was now using her name in his own thoughts, made him that much more certain that she was his. Only his.

_If that charred creep tries anything again, I'll decay his face. I won't let anyone or anything take away my girl. Now…how do I get back? _The most important realization set in as he looked out at the unfamiliar neighborhood.

**Shift P.O.V**

Scrolling through Bakugou's social media profile on her phone, Kugutsu allowed herself a small frown. She wanted to convince the hero brat to join the League of Villains, to surprise Shigaraki when he returned. Unfortunately, her first plan failed before she could even try it.

Toga apparently had a type, which surprised Kugutsu. She expected Toga to just go along with her plan and flirt with the kid to try to win him over. When the blonde girl refused, it made things that much more difficult. Although, now that Kugutsu was studying his social media posts, she had to wonder if that would have worked even if Toga was on board with the plan.

_No pictures of girls. He doesn't post his own pictures, either. Every picture of him is from someone named "Kirishima" who just tagged him in the pictures._ Kugutsu chewed at her thumbnail, head tilted. This was proving to be more difficult than arranging her things in her bag to accommodate all of her Shigaraki fan merchandise. _He's got friends, but none of them seem that close besides this "Kirishima". Let's see his profile…_

A quiet thud made her eyes lift from the screen. A small carton of strawberry milk was sitting on the counter in front of her, a hand still holding it. A two-toned hand with staples along where the burned flesh met normal flesh.

Kugutsu's pulse began to race at the sight of the hand; instantly having flashbacks of him gripping her throat, his other hand holding a bright blue flame beside her face. Fear tried to bubble up, but she was a professional when she was away from Shigaraki and able to stop herself from obsessing over him. So, being a professional, she forced the fear down.

A moment of silence passed as she continued to scroll through Bakugou's posts and the villain now sitting beside her nudged the carton of milk closer. She glanced over, her eyes narrowed, and she finally set the phone down. "Do you need something?" she demanded.

Dabi smirked and tapped a fingertip against the milk carton. "Got you something." His eyes were only briefly on hers before lowering to her neck.

She had been slouching and Shigaraki's hooded sweatshirt did a pretty good job of hiding her bruise. Her hair had been hiding her burned cheek when she had her head down. Now that her head was raised, both were fully visible.

His smirk grew as he released the container in favor of holding the cup in front of him. "What happened to your neck? You like getting choked or something?"

Kugutsu bristled and simply continued to glare up at him. She wanted to lunge and tear out his throat, but she remembered what he did to her the previous night. How he had almost killed her. How he had left a burn on her left cheek. It was just bad enough to be a little worse than a sunburn, but still hurt quite a bit.

"You went with him last night, right? Didn't think you were into hardcore stuff," he continued to taunt.

Realized that he was insinuating that Shigaraki had choked her during something unmentionable, her feline ears flattened in annoyance. "What's your problem, burnable trash? You get a kick out of-?!"

"You want this or not?" he asked, nodding toward the milk.

Kugutsu forced herself to keep a neutral face and dragged the carton of strawberry milk closer. It was still cold and it had not been opened yet so she knew that there was no chance of tampering from him. Still, she checked for punctures in the thick paper of the carton just in case.

It was as she took her first sip that she noticed his beverage. A cold, blended coffee topped with whipped cream, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, and tiny chocolate stars. Dabi made direct eye contact with her and took a long sip. An unreasonably long sip that actually forced him to choke a little when he tried to swallow it all.

_What's his problem? He almost killed me last night and now he's teasing me?! What the hell? Okay, calm down! Be professional! I'm a villain now! I need to control my feelings! Damn it!_ Kugutsu slouched forward, trying to scroll through her phone and focus again on the previous task.

"That's a…pretty nasty burn," he commented, leaning closer.

She tried to ignore him and finally released an irritated hiss when his left hand rested on top of her head. "Don't touch!"

"Let me see it. Looks pretty bad." Dabi let go of his coffee cup and reached over, a fingernail scraping over her bruised neck. She jolted away from him and almost fell out of her seat. "What?" he taunted, smirking again. "Seriously, that's pretty bad. You should tell the leader not to be so rough next time."

"Wh-what the fuck is your problem?! Are you fucking serious?" she finally snapped. She slammed both hands down on the countertop, absolutely seething. Her face was bright red, heart hammering with rage.

"What're you freaking out about?"

"What am I-? _Seriously_?! Seriously? What the-?" Before she could continue, a hand planted on her shoulder from behind. She turned to snap at the interloper, but paused when she found Spinner.

"Hey, Yami. Maybe you should finish that milk. You didn't eat yet, right?" He glanced from her to Dabi in a way that insinuated he wanted her to be quiet to avoid another near-death battle. He sat on her other side and stayed there, waiting until Dabi wandered off before he leaned over.

"I don't think he remembers what happened," Spinner bluntly told her. He was watching Dabi, who was still carrying that disgustingly sweet-looking coffee and now talking to Compress.

"How do you forget almost killing someone?" she muttered. Kugutsu finished her milk and was tempted to throw the empty carton at Dabi's head, but refrained. _Psycho. Edgy piece of trash. Ooooh! Don't cut yourself on that edge, you crispy creep!_ She had to bite her lip to not laugh at that last thought.

Across the bar, Kurogiri cleared his throat to remind them both that he was still there. He had been there this entire time. Standing there, quietly observing everything as he mentally prepared himself for the moment when a fight would break out and he would have to inevitably break it up. "I believe that he forgot that portion of the evening," he contributed.

"But how?"

He shrugged and continued wiping a glass. "It seems as if he remembered every part except for your fight. He was confused when he woke and asked why his arm was bandaged."

Kugutsu stared blankly at him for a moment and tilted her head. "Kurogiri-san…did you sleep last night?"

"I did not." There was no hint of him appearing sleepy, but his face was basically just a pair of glowing eyes in a writhing mass of darkness so it was difficult to tell. He did give a small nod that seemed a bit sluggish. Kurogiri seemed to stare back at her for a moment before setting both shadowy hands onto the counter. "Kugutsu Kurayami. Please come stand behind the bar."

Immediately knowing that he wanted her to stand guard for him and make sure nothing got broken, she got up from her seat. Only when she had verbally agreed to watch the bar for him did he finally take his leave into the back of the bar. Now it was really out of the question for her to fight.

Bowing her head and staring down at the countertop, Kugutsu made a silent promise that she would be a professional. It should be easy. Not long ago, she was just a broker's assistant. Collecting debts for Giran, killing those that were unable to pay or those that had stolen from Giran. Conducting herself in the calm, cool manner of a professional.

Of course, all remnants of professionalism started to fade when Shigaraki returned. He looked irritated. Reluctant to be there. The villain's gaze slid over the others in the bar, one by one. Finally resting on Bakugou. Their "new potential member" was awake and glaring at everyone with ferocity.

"You look hungry," he taunted. "If you join us, you can have whatever you want. You like winning, don't you? Don't you want to feel powerful? Don't you want to feel better than everyone else?"

Hearing Shigaraki say these things, speaking like a true villain, made her heart skip a beat. Heat rose to her cheeks and she had to fight a smile from forming. _He's…so cool! I can't handle it! I want to stand next to him!_

After receiving only a glare in response from Bakugou, Shigaraki came to sit at the bar and narrowed his eyes on Kugutsu. As if he was surprised to see her wear his sweatshirt, but was not overly disappointed. "What're you wearing?"


	32. Chapter 32

NeonHorizon: There's one particular paragraph in this chapter that just broke me. I couldn't hold it together after I wrote it. I hope you like the new chapter, happy readers ^_^

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"Why're you behind the bar?"

Kugutsu felt her heart racing and she was struggling to keep herself composed. She covered her mouth to hide the grin pulling at her lips and glanced across the counter at Shigaraki briefly. _Calm down! I used to be so good at controlling my emotions, but when I'm around him it's like I just lose all control! I get too excited! But look at him! He's so cool!_

He sat there for a moment, waiting for her reply. None came since she was having an internal fan girl moment, visible to him only when she glanced over with glimmering cat-yellow eyes. The villain scowled at her silence and reached up, picking at the chapped skin of his lips in frustration.

"Kurogiri needed to rest, right, Yami?"

"I didn't ask you." Shigaraki glared at Spinner, who was sitting a few seats down from him. Looking to Kugutsu again, he saw her hand lowering from her mouth. She was biting her lip, a rush of pink flooding her face when their eyes met.

"Kurogiri said he didn't sleep last night so he wanted me to take care of the bar," she explained, managing to keep her expression neutral. A hint of excitement leaked into her tone and she swallowed hard. _Calm down. You slept next to him last night so talking to him shouldn't be such a big deal!_

The villain's blood-colored gaze dropped to the black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing over her costume. "Why're you wearing my sweatshirt?"

The pink hue darkened to red and her feline ears flattened in embarrassment. Bowing her head, she found herself fidgeting with the hem of the sleeve. "I…I missed you so I put it on," she admitted, keeping her voice low enough that only he could hear her.

Kugutsu had dated in the past. She had been with other guys and spent the night with a few of them. After all, she was a young lady and it was only natural to date around while trying to find "that special someone". None of them had made her heart race like he did. None of them even came to close to making her feel the way he did.

She was pretty sure he was "that special someone". Looking across the counter at him, she felt her heart skip a beat. Those crimson eyes, narrowed into a villainous glare. The moderately damaged skin around them. That light blue hair, tangled in that "I don't care what anyone thinks" style. Those chapped, faintly bloody, lips pulling gradually into a grin that made her tingle. Yes, this was the man that made her twisted little heart race uncontrollably.

"Do you need anything?" she asked, hoping to be of some help. Hoping that she could do something to make that grin grow.

"I didn't eat yet. Get me something good."

"S-sure!" Kugutsu rummaged in her bag and produced a bag of salty chips. As soon as she had pulled it out, she felt her heart dropping into her stomach. _What am I doing? Why would he want something like this? It's not good enough! _Setting it on the counter, she ruffled her hair with her free hand and frowned.

"Hey, can I have-?" Before Spinner could finish his question, a glare was shot his way and Shigaraki dragged the bag closer to him. "Someone should probably go out for food. Yami, want to go with me?"

"Why would I send _you_? Out of everyone here, you'd stand out the most. Don't be stupid." Shigaraki was already helping himself to the chips with no regard for the hungry stares he was getting from the villains who had yet to eat. After a moment of crunch-filled contemplation, he determined that Magne and Toga were best for the job and sent them out.

Kugutsu was finally left alone at the counter with Shigaraki and found herself fidgeting nervously with the hem of her sleeve. _Why am I so flustered?! We slept next to each other so I shouldn't get so nervous, but I feel so…happy! I need to calm down before I lose control and the shadows start moving._

She looked away from Shigaraki and her joy was swiftly replaced with irritation as her eyes settled on Dabi. The charred-looking lord of edge was still sipping his sweet coffee, completely oblivious to the fact that he nearly killed her the previous night. He had no idea who had caused that wound on his arm that seemed to have bled through his bandage because there was red dripping from his sleeve.

Kugutsu wanted to leap over the counter, grab the straw from his coffee, and stab it into his neck. The idea of seeing his blood spurt out of the straw with each beat of his heart made her want to giggle. It would be super messy, but she was sure Shigaraki would be amused. Even if it meant they would be less one villain.

She subconsciously reached up, gently touching the bruise on her neck as she recalled what he had insinuated. The idea of her and Shigaraki doing something like that and him causing the bruise during that act. It made her blood pump so fast that she started to tremble. Her pulse could be heard in her ears. Her face felt like it was on fire as she tried to imagine it. There was a warm wetness trailing down over her lips that smelled a lot like blood.

_Blood?! Damn it! I'm seriously getting a nosebleed over this? How uncool!_ She was about to lift her sleeve to soak up the blood, out of habit, but then remembered she was wearing Shigaraki's sweatshirt. "Ugh. Napkin," she muttered to herself, searching for one behind the counter.

Kugutsu, with her typical bad luck, managed to attract attention to herself as she fumbled around to find something to soak up her blood. She dropped a few things and struggled to get them back to where they belonged on the little shelf behind the counter. When she found napkins she straightened up to see her new arch enemy standing across the counter.

"What are you staring at, burnable trash?" She tried to sound intimidating, despite having blood gushing from her nose. To her outrage, the villain smirked and leaned over to set a hand on top of her head. "Don't touch!"

"I thought cats liked attention," he taunted. "Or do you just like the _leader's_ attention?"

She bristled and pressed the napkin to her nose with a trembling hand. "Shut up! I don't want to hear about attention from a half-singed piece of meat like you! Fucking crispy creep!" The hand on her head started ruffling her dark, scruffy hair and she reached up with her free hand to grip his wrist, nails sinking into his skin. "Back. The. Fuck. Up."

"Stop touching her." The order came from Shigaraki, who was now glowering at the other two villains. "I told you she was off-limits."

Kugutsu felt one of her nails sink in where Dabi's scarred skin met his normal skin and her stomach turned. She tasted bile and, just for a second, she was half-sure she was about to projectile vomit on him from disgust. _Why the hell is his skin so warm?! Is he sick or something?_

She tensed up when she felt the hand on her head move. Fingers sank into her hair and his nails dug into her scalp for a second before he drew his hand away. The female villain took a few quick steps back to put more distance between herself and him, glaring as fiercely as possible. Her hatred for Dabi was getting pretty close to being on par with her hatred for All Might at this point.

**Shift P.O.V**

Nothing was going smoothly. It was frustrating. Almost disheartening. Not that Shigaraki was that easily swayed to give up. This was just like a particularly hard level in a game; as soon as he got past it then he would be rewarded. However, this was maddeningly irritating for him to deal with.

An uncooperative "potential new member". Hunger, because chips were not an adequate meal for a villain. Everyone was being too loud and it was grating on his nerves. Dabi was harassing his fan girl. That last thought made him look up and found the girl swiftly redirecting her gaze from him, blushing faintly.

To anyone else, she probably looked like an absolute mess. Dried blood under her nose and on her lips, scruffy dark hair settled in perfectly chaotic tangles, wearing his hooded sweatshirt. It was a little too big for her so the sleeves covered most of her hands. She had that maniacal, happy look in her eyes when she glanced toward him again. This psychopath with cat ears was, amazingly, in love with him. So, to him, she was far from a mess.

Satisfaction began to overtake all of the feelings of frustration. He hated that he was that easily swayed now, but seeing his fan girl get so excited just by being near him brought him confidence. Thinking back to the previous night and how much she seemed to like sleeping with him, an idea started to form.

"Yami. I have a job for you."

Her ears perked forward and Kugutsu lifted a hand to hide her smile. It seemed that just hearing him say her nickname was enough to leave her overjoyed. "A job just for me or-?"

"Just for you. My fan girl. You'd do anything for me, wouldn't you?"

She nodded eagerly. "Whatever you need, Shigaraki."

"Careful. You don't want to get drool on the bar," Dabi taunted. "Do cats drool?"

"I'm not-! Ngh. At least I don't look like something that crawled out of a trash can," she grumbled, trying to keep herself from attacking him.

Shigaraki felt oddly irritated hearing them argue. It sounded too friendly, even if she did mutter a death threat under her breath. Deciding to break it up, he tapped a fingertip against the bar to get her attention again.

"…sorry…" Her ears flattened in shame and she bowed her head. "Yes?"

"I want you to convince that boy to join us," he stated, nodding toward the restrained teenager across the room. "If you convince him to join us, I'll give you a special reward. So don't disappoint me."

"What're you going to give her? Ear scratches and a belly rub?" Dabi smirked and leaned against the bar with that sickeningly sweet coffee still in his hand. "Might want to ease up on the choking the next time you-"

"What?" Shigaraki's eyes narrowed on the other villain, who responded by simply taking a sip from his drink. It seemed like Dabi was trying to insinuate something unseemly. However, being who he was and having minimal actual experience with human contact, Shigaraki had trouble grasping what he meant.

The sugary coffee was set down and Dabi reached across the counter, hooking a finger into the neck of the sweatshirt Kugutsu was wearing. He tugged her closer to the bar, another finger tapping at her bruised neck while the female villain bristled and grabbed his wrist. "I'm surprised you can even _do it_."

Again, whatever the crispy villain was talking about was beyond Shigaraki's understanding. He continued to glare and then looked toward Kugutsu. The fan's face was turning red as she quietly swore and tried to free herself. "What?"

"Are you kidding? Seriously? You got dirty with Yami last night."

Thankfully, this finally made it click. Shigaraki realized what he was insinuating and gritted his teeth. No, they had not done "that". They had slept next to each other and that was it. On top of trying to say they did "that", Dabi was saying Shigaraki had been the one that choked her and caused that bruise.

He wanted to slam his hand into Dabi's face and watch him crumble. The urge was almost overpowering. To think that the other villain would think about his fan that way and then try to say that Shigaraki was responsible for her injury. Dabi had to be either incredibly dumb or painfully forgetful. Though Shigaraki immediately assumed it was the first option.

_What kind of idiot talks like that? I should just kill him. How much help is he to the League of Villains? He shows up whenever he feels like it and messes with my fan girl. He attacked her. I shouldn't even let him keep breathing. I'm so…angry…_He realized that he had been tensing up all over and forced himself to try to relax, just a little.

Kugutsu slipped free from Dabi's grip and scowled, a hand touching one of the shelves behind the bar. The shadows there began to twitch and pulse to life. "Hands off! I don't want some trashy, half-burned, serial-killer wannabe touching me!" she snarled, lowering to a half-crouch as if getting ready to attack.

"Oooh! Are they gonna fight again?" Toga grinned as she looked over.

Dabi's smirk never faded as he pushed the remainder of his drink toward Kugutsu. "There's some cream left in there. Cats like that, right?"

Without a word, Shigaraki reached over and shoved the cup back toward Dabi. It fell to the floor at the villain's feet, a few drops of coffee splashing up and dotting his pants. Not quite as satisfying as when he got splashed with steaming hot milk, but good enough. Shigaraki felt at least slightly less irritated.

Kugutsu caught his gaze and gave a small nod. "Right…I'll do my best."

"Do better than your best; you're doing this for me." Seeing her blush, he felt a rush of confidence again. Of course, Shigaraki had no idea what sort of methods she might use to try to sway Bakugou to their side. This could result in him joining or them having to dispose of the boy's mangled corpse in a discrete location. It was anyone's guess what Kugutsu had planned.

"I've…handled hostage situations before," she started to explain. Stretching her arms over her head, she put on a neutral expression and gave another nod. Her shoulders popped and she sighed in relief. "Hostage situations, interrogations, holding captives. I've got a lot of experience so…I should be able to do this."

"Wait. Do whatever you have to without killing him. Think of it as a fun challenge." Shigaraki scratched at his neck, watching her approach the boy.


	33. Chapter 33

NeonHorizon: I posted my planned holiday oneshots for 2019 on my profile, if anyone's interested. There are two stories I'm sure at least a few of you will be interested in _ Now who's ready to embrace some chaos?

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How_ do you persuade a teenage boy to do something?_ Kugutsu crossed the bar and halted in front of their bound "potential new member". The boy was glaring up at her, mouth set in a firm scowl that easily said "you can't tell me what to do!" and it just made her that much more determined to win him over.

She tucked both hands into the pocket of the hoodie she wore and tilted her head, feline ears twitching faintly. _Non-lethal tactics. So I could cut him, right? I just have to make sure he doesn't bleed to death. I need to think this through carefully though. Too much of a mess and Shigaraki will be probably be mad. Too little of a mess and it's way less impressive._

The female villain sat on the wooden floor in front of him, her legs crossed beneath her. Pulling out her phone, she scrolled through his social media information again as she pondered her options. _Cutting him might not work. He doesn't really have any friends, either. Besides this Kirishima kid. I could capture him and bring him here, torture him. That might make this brat to give in or it might break him and we can just use him as a tool._

She bit her lip as she stared down at the screen of her phone. This was proving challenging. The villain really wanted to make this as fast as possible, but she had to make sure he was one hundred percent on board with the League. If he believed he could benefit from joining, he would be more likely to cooperate so her best bet would be to attempt diplomacy.

_Or I could start cutting off fingers. Wait, but he needs his hands for his quirk, right? I can't mess him up too much._ Kugutsu's head tilted a bit more and she leaned forward. _I'm pretty sure we couldn't win him over by promising him women. I don't think he's into girls._ She had used that tactic in the past; promising women to a man she wanted information from. Of course, that man had been killed the second she got what she needed from him.

Reaching out, she set a hand on top of the boy's head and stared intently into his sharp red eyes. Her lips were set in a straight line as she tried to maintain a neutral expression. "You know you…look pretty hungry. Bakugou Katsuki. So what does Bakugou like to eat? You don't look like a fruit and veggies kind of guy."

"Stop touching me!"

"Hm." She withdrew her hand slowly, watching him closely, and then struck him across the face with a slap that echoed throughout the room. Now all of the other villains were looking their way. Bakugou looked genuinely surprised by her actions and she heard a feminine gasp somewhere behind her.

Kugutsu planted a hand on the teenager's right knee, her other hand returning to the top of his head. "Let's try this again. What. Do. You. Want. To. Eat? If you reject my kind offer again, I'll have Twice pry your mouth open and I'll just feed you like a baby bird! Is that what you want, you aggressive little shit?!"

**Shift P.O.V**

When he had given her the task of persuading the boy to join, using any means that would not result in the kid's death, this was not what Shigaraki expected. He stared at his fan girl, seeing her feline ears shift back in annoyance as she glared down at the boy. She was losing control of her emotions. She might actually kill the kid if she got too excited.

A grin pulled at the corners of his dry, chapped lips and Shigaraki found himself unable to look away. When she had brought up that she had experience with keeping hostages and interrogating people, he had expected some sort of mind-breaking technique. This was almost better.

He knew that if this was All Might, she would have already put a few shadow blades through his chest. As he tried to imagine this, his heart started to thump faster and harder. It was something he wanted to see. It was something that he was now determined to see. Shigaraki promised himself that one day he would see Kugutsu tear All Might apart.

"Is this really okay?" Spinner's voice came from somewhere to Shigaraki's right. "What if she kills him?"

_She won't kill him. She doesn't want to let down her idol so she'll do whatever it takes to win that kid over. Just so she can impress me._ His pride started to grow as he thought of how much effort she was willing to put into her every action just so she could try to make him happy. No one had ever looked at him the way she did; with so much admiration and bliss.

Kugutsu had shifted into a crouch when she leaned up to grab the top of the kid's head and she slowly moved onto her knees. One small, pale hand was resting on Bakugou's right knee. Her other hand started to ruffle the boy's hair almost like she was petting a dog.

"So…let's try this again," she started as Twice came to stand next to her for support. "Remember. This is me being _nice_. I'm never this nice to strangers. But we can be friends, right? Now tell me. What kind of food do you want to eat?"

"Just give me whatever! I'm starving!" the brat roared. He glared up at her, but there was the faintest hint of warmth in his face.

Shigaraki narrowed his gaze on the scene unfolding in front of him. Kugutsu briefly let go of the kid so she could dig around her bag and soon produced a box of Pocky. She withdrew a stick and held it out in front of his face to take a bite, her free hand planted kind of high on his knee to steady herself.

To anyone else, this would have been basically nothing. It was knee touching and this kid was their captive. She was acting cold and merciless toward him just moments ago. There was still a bright red mark on the side of his face from where she had slapped him. The villain seethed, however, as he kept his eyes on the hand that was touching the boy's leg.

The Pocky was soon gone and Kugutsu settled back onto the floor. Twice leaned against the wall beside the "potential new member's" chair with his arms crossed, waiting in case Kugutsu needed help. The female villain was talking now, but her voice was too quiet to hear from this distance.

Everything seemed to be going alright. The boy was growling back at her, in an equally low tone. Shigaraki was starting to get annoyed by the low volume and contemplated going over to hover like Twice was.

Suddenly, it seemed to take a turn. Kugutsu bristled; her body tensing visibly and her posture changing. She was leaning forward now in a "cat about to pounce" sort of pose. Her left hand was on the floor, touching her shadow. Even from across the bar, Shigaraki could see the shadows beneath her starting to twitch and shudder to life. When it spread out around her and began to form spikes, he knew he would have to interfere to prevent her from murdering the boy.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu was used to getting taunted. She was used to trash talk and cruel laughter. After all, she was a broker's assistant and a girl. Money-collecting, villain recruitment, and murder were a "man's job" so she was used to being underestimated and made fun of. She could usually kill the people that did it, though. This was different. Shigaraki had been specific about not killing Bakugou.

When the brat called her a "freak", it broke her. She had thought Dabi was a jerk, but this kid was pissing her off so badly that she was losing control of her anger. "Freak" was one word that she could not tolerate. She snapped. The shadows were spiking up around her and she gritted her teeth.

"I'm a "freak"? I _fed_ you, you little fluffy-haired piece of shit angry bunny! I was _nice_ to you and _this_ is how you're going to repay me?! I should just fucking gut you and hang you by your intestines!" Kugutsu was about to growl more, but she was abruptly enshrouded in darkness as something fell over her head.

"Calm down, kitty. You're going to disappoint the leader if you put your claws in the kid."

The sound of Dabi's voice was enough to make her see red, but she managed to refrain from murdering everyone within range of her shadows when she remembered that Twice was still close. The girl tore the dark covering off of her and scowled when she realized that it was Dabi's coat. To make matters worse, the crispy villain set a hand on the top of her head once the coat was off of her.

"You should just join and get it over with," he spoke, looking down at the teenager. "She'll keep bothering you until you do." A smirk curved the villain's two-toned mouth. "Unless she just loses it and kills you."

The girl bristled at the feeling of his fingers slipping into her dark, scruffy hair. "Hands…_off_, you dumpster-fire ragdoll!"

He ignored her and started ruffling her hair. Paying absolutely no heed to the low growl emanating from Kugutsu. "What do you get out of being a hero anyway?"

She was five seconds from sending a surge of shadow spikes into his body, but was soon distracted. Feverishly warm fingers rubbed behind her right ear, drawing a humiliating purr from her before she could bite her lip to suppress it. "…the _fuck_ do you think you're doing…?!" she muttered.

"Don't you have a _job_ to do, kitty? Or are you giving up already?"

_I'm going to tear him apart and burn him! I swear! _She tried to keep herself from purring. The internal conflict was only making her angrier; the bliss that came from having her ear rubbed and the outrage at the humiliation of this happening in front of everyone. _I can't let Shigaraki see me get weak over something like this! Keep it together!_

Kugutsu bit her lip so hard that she soon tasted blood. It mixed with the dried blood from her earlier nosebleed, making her look that much more crazed. She took a deep, but kind of shaky breath and tried to calm herself enough to try once more to convince this baby hero to become a villain.

"Why do you want to be a hero so badly anyway?" she managed to demand.

"Like I'm gonna tell you anything!"

"Keep that up…and your next meal will be force-fed to you through a tube down your throat." Kugutsu slapped Dabi's hand away from her hair and leaned forward, gripping both of the teenager's knees tightly. "Join us. You like winning? You like feeling powerful? How about…you put your quirk to _good use_? If you join us, you'll get stronger that much faster."

The boy glared up at her, but was silent. Her fingertips dug into his knees as her grip tightened and she leaned up a little more. Close enough that she could have booped noses with him if she was feeling slightly less homicidal.

She remembered all of the pages the kid followed on social media and the few posts that he had made. "You want to be stronger than All Might, don't you? So why wouldn't you want to join us? You'll have people to lift you up and help you achieve that goal. Think about it and stop being so stubborn."

The female villain sat back and stared into the boy's eyes. _If he doesn't give in, I'll start making little cuts all over him until he can't keep fighting. I'll just close him up in a shadow bubble and force shadow blades through it._ She felt a hand grip the hood of her sweatshirt and pull her back more.

"Maybe you should try to seduce him," Dabi taunted. "If it works on the leader, then why not?" Seeing the maniacal, enraged gleam in her sharp yellow eyes, he smirked and patted the top of her head.

"Back the fuck up before I cut off your hand and give it to him as a present," the girl snarled.

"Awww. Too bad." He leaned down close to her right ear and chuckled. "Your double was _way_ more fun."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" She turned abruptly and, in that same moment, there was a sharp pull at her shoulder. Kugutsu had been so wrapped up in her hatred of Dabi that she failed to notice the approaching footsteps.

Shigaraki had crossed the bar in a few seconds and yanked her away from Dabi with one hand, keeping his little finger extended. His other hand darted forward with the intention of slamming into the half-burned villain's face. Instead of making contact, his hand plunged through a warp gate that abruptly opened halfway between them.

"Shigaraki Tomura, what are you doing?" Kurogiri's voice came from the doorway. "Why are you attacking your own ally?"

The blue-haired villain glared toward the man and gave Kugutsu's sleeve a sharp tug, as if this would somehow answer Kurogiri's question. "Let me kill him."

"What sort of message will that send? You need to show that you're a strong leader. How will you accomplish that by murdering your allies? He is a useful member of the group."

Kugutsu wanted to say that Dabi was a lazy, sentient slice of burnt toast. She wanted to dart forward and tackle the flame-quirk villain's legs to throw him onto the floor. The grip on her sleeve managed to keep her from doing it. Instead of viciously attacking the walking piece of burnable trash, she focused on Shigaraki and the fact that he had nearly killed Dabi and she seemed to be the cause.

There was no time for her to have a fan girl moment, though. She was soon being guided back to the counter by a very grumpy-looking Shigaraki. The blue-haired villain seated himself first before pulling her to sit on the edge of the seat, between his legs. He said nothing, but it was clear he was angry.

Heat took over her face as she felt him press against her back and lifted a hand to cover the smile forming on her lips. _I know he's angry, but…I feel so giddy! Why am I like this?! This is so uncool of me!_


	34. Chapter 34

NeonHorizon: I started a Kurogiri fanfic called Black Coffee and a Dabi fanfic called Warmth. We'll see if I can keep myself from calling Dabi names in his fanfic...Oh. And here's something special!

* * *

Fury made him lift a hand, scratching deeply at his neck. It was too much. It was all too much. Seeing his fan girl touch their "potential new member" on the knee. Seeing her touch his hair. Seeing Dabi touch her and rub behind her ear. Someone else had made his fan girl purr and now Shigaraki was absolutely seething.

Sitting at the bar, slouching, he was now guarding his fan girl from everyone else as if she was the last piece candy from a bag of seasonal flavored chocolates. She was more or less trapped. Sitting on the very edge of his seat, between his legs. He had subconsciously wrapped his free arm around her after she was settled, keeping her back pressed against his chest.

Her ears were drawn back and she had her head bowed. One hand was lifted, probably trying to hide that maniacal yandere smile of hers. A very soft purring came from her now without him even touching her ears. She was just content from being so close to him.

However, the feeling was not mutual. Having her this close made him feel marginally better, but this was still not enough. Fuming, he listened as Dabi collected his coat from the floor and put it on. Even just the rustle of cloth was wearing on his nerves. He wanted to try again to kill the other villain, but now that Kurogiri was there it would be a lot tougher.

Adding to his anger was the kid across the room. Bakugou. Kugutsu had ruffled his hair. She had touched his knee. More than just his kneecap, too. Her hand had gone pretty far up his leg at one point. Just thinking about it made Shigaraki grit his teeth and tighten his hold on his fan girl.

"You need to exercise more self-control," Kurogiri remarked as he went behind the counter. "If you were kill your own ally-"

"Shut up. You don't even know what was going on. You can't just walk into the situation and tell me what to do." He lowered his head more, bringing it closer to the side of Kugutsu's neck.

Shigaraki felt her tense up. Her breathing hitched and he saw her hands grip her own knees tightly, nails lightly sinking into her skin. His right hand, which he had been scratching his neck with, lowered to hover over her right hand. He kept a finger elevated of course. The last thing he wanted right now was to accidentally kill his one and only fan, leaving a mess in his lap and all over his shirt.

"…kh…ngh…" The weird, quiet sounds came from Kugutsu and droplets fell to the floor beneath them.

It was rather confusing. She had no reason to cry. As far as he could tell, Kugutsu was not experiencing any pain. Unless these tears were due to her failing him. After all, she had failed him. She almost killed Bakugou and that had literally been the one thing that Shigaraki had explicitly told her not to do. "Why are you crying?"

"I…I'm happy," she mumbled.

His eyes narrowed and he lifted his head a little. There was a lot of warmth radiating from her cheek and when he finally settled his hand over hers, he could feel the rapid pulse beneath her skin. The villain's chapped lips drew into a wide grin the likes of which even Kurogiri had never seen before.

Anyone with a clear view of this grin backed away a bit. This grin was something straight out of a maniac's fever dream. Pairing this with the way that their leader was more or less holding Kugutsu like an otaku holds their prized body pillow made this a pretty unsettling image.

_Purring and crying from happiness. All because she's with me. She really is a loyal fan. My one and only fan girl._ The hard, fast beating of heart made his teeth grit, but his grin remained intact. It hurt. It was weird. It was like a drug he was quickly becoming addicted to.

"Yami, are you going to try again or-?" Spinner had been approaching, but hesitated when he got a clear view of Shigaraki's expression. "Uh? Everything okay?"

No verbal answer came because Kugutsu was biting her lip to stifle any sounds of happiness. Purring. Giggling. She was keeping it all bottled up, as if to keep it just for her idol. Instead, she simply nodded in reassurance.

"It seems that she's fine," Kurogiri spoke. A subtle urging for Spinner to move along. Thankfully, the hint was taken and the reptilian villain awkwardly excused himself to join Twice near their captive.

_Of course you're going to try again. You want to impress me, don't you? And I know you want that reward I promised. We both do. So you'll do whatever it takes to win that kid over._ Blood colored eyes narrowed and his fingertips dug into her knee. _You'll even touch him. I saw you touch him! Why did you touch him?!_

Shigaraki's anger had started to fade when he saw how happy she was to be near him, but it was beginning to ignite again. He pulled her tighter against his chest, his grin twisting into a deep scowl before he began chewing on his lower lip. The more he thought about what had happened, the more his fury grew. This felt like when he lost to a boss in a game fifty times over. Like when he saw a NPC turn against the player and turn out to be the enemy all along.

Frustration and jealousy made him release her knee so he could scratch furiously at his neck. _You touched him. You're my fan girl, but you touched that brat. And even worse, you let yourself be touched by that charred freak! And you even purred when he rubbed your ears! You're supposed to be my fan and you let that happen and you purred for him! What kind of loyal fan does that?!_

Dreadful thoughts crossed his mind. Terrible, cruel things he could do to get his revenge. Different ways to punish his fan, to teach her to be loyal to only him. As he mulled over these various ideas, his hand absently settled on the top of her head with one finger lifted on reflex. He rubbed behind her right ear, not paying much attention until her purring grew louder.

Kugutsu bowed her head more, but nuzzled it against his hand. Urging him to do it more. Her hips wiggled side to side as they often did when she got too excited. Normally, he would just think it was ridiculous. Like she was trying to wag a nonexistent tail. This time it was different.

She was sitting between his legs on his seat so when she wiggled her hips, he felt her rubbing back against him. He scowled, but his breathing hitched and his hold around her waist tightened even more than before. There was a rush of warmth and some strange sort of feeling. Like when he wanted a game badly enough to venture out into the world and get it himself. Longing.

He wanted more. It was weird and addictive. He wanted to move closer to her on the seat. It was a bit of a struggle to keep his expression from changing. "Yami. Go wait in the back. I'll come to you when I'm done here."

"Wh-what? I can still help. Let me-"

"Aren't you my loyal fan?"

"I am…but I want to help. I won't mess up this time," she tried to protest.

"Go wait with Toga."

The blonde girl heard this and her expression brightened. "Let's go, Yami. I wanna pet your ears, too."

Shigaraki released his maniacal fan and watched her walk to the door with Toga. "No touching," he grumbled, giving the blonde a glare.

"Tomura, that's no fun!"

"No touching," Kugutsu agreed, giving Toga the most evil glare that anyone in the bar had ever seen. She was clearly trying to impress Shigaraki again. However, any amount of coolness that glare would have given her was ruined by the fact that she was blushing pink. Like a middle school student staring at their crush from across a classroom. Like a yandere watching their object of obsession from behind a tree, digging the tip of a knife into the bark and carving their names into it.

He had to put some distance between himself and his fan. He had to think clearly. For one, there was still the issue of convincing this rabid brat to join the League of Villains. For two, he wanted to think of a suitable punishment for his fan for betraying him. Kugutsu had purred for another villain. There was no way he could let her infidelity go unpunished.

**Shift P.O.V**

"You're so lucky, Yami-chan!"

Kugutsu was sitting on the floor in the dimly lit back hallway, grimacing as she reflected on her failure and the humiliation she had suffered at the hands of Dabi. Her left ear twitched upon hearing Toga pout and she tilted her head. "What did you say?"

"You're lucky! I wish a boy loved me enough to kill for me! That was so romantic~" Toga's smile was even more terrifying in the dimness of the hallway, her cheeks a warm pink as she seemed to get momentarily lost in a daydream.

_Shigaraki…was going to kill Dabi?_ She had been so distracted by everything else that this was just now sinking in. The villain covered her mouth with a hand to hide her smile, her shoulders trembling as she giggled._ He would've killed Dabi if Kurogiri didn't stop him! That…was so exciting!_

The other female villain sighed and leaned her head back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees to keep them against her chest. "You guys are soulmates. It's super cute, but it really ticks me off. I wanna meet my soulmate."

Kugutsu never really had close friends when she was younger. It seemed like a bad idea to get close to people since she had been trying to become a villain since she was twelve. So her experience with girl talk was more or less nonexistent. Her social skills were pretty bad, too. So she was unsure of what to say or do in this situation.

Opening her mouth, she decided to humor Toga and try to do what a friend would probably do. "You should make a soulmate."

"What? How would I do that?" Toga frowned a little and leaned toward her.

"When I want someone to cooperate with me, I study them online," Kugutsu explained with a neutral expression. She held up her phone, showing Toga the social media profile for Bakugou Katsuki. "You see what they like, who they like, who they talk to you, what their ideals are, and you work with that info. So you can make them like you. And you can relate to them better, to gain their trust. It works with captives so I bet it'd work with crushes, too. Who do you like?"

What happened next was the villain equivalent of gushing about crushes. Toga told Kugutsu about a boy she had met the previous night. A boy with dark green hair and freckles. Midoriya Izuku. Also a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Uraraka Ochaco. Kugutsu sat beside her and they looked through the students' social media profiles together, learning more about them.

By the time the door to the bar area opened, Kugutsu had some very evil ideas about kidnapping the two teenagers to give to Toga as a friendly gift and Toga had somehow fallen even more in love with both of the teenagers. What Shigaraki walked in on was almost enough to make him wish he had stayed in the bar. Glaring down at the two in the dimly lit area, he scratched at his neck.

"Yami. Come with me. I need you now."

Hearing him say that he needed her made the girl's heart skip a beat. She pushed herself to stand and nearly tripped over her own boots in her haste to follow him down the hallway. _What is it? Is he going to tell me a plan to convince Bakugou to join? Or did he…?_ Her pulse quickened and she stifled a giggle. _Did he kill Dabi after we left the room?_

It was as she was following him through the increasing darkness that Kugutsu remembered something important. Something painfully embarrassing that she had done, right before he told her to leave the room. Blood rushed to her face and trickled from her nose as she remembered that she had more or less grinded her lower half against the villain's.

Suddenly, that excited giddiness was replaced with anxious nausea. She bowed her head, blood freely dripping from her nose as her feline ears flattened. _What have I done?! Why did I do that? That was so uncool! He probably hates me! He was probably disgusted! I'm disgusting! Why did I do that to him?! Damn it!_

His door opened and the villain disappeared into the dark room within. The only light source was the computer screen and it was just a dim screensaver that resembled a starry night sky. There were no sounds from within the room.

Kugutsu leaned against the wall, hesitant to follow him. Honestly, if she had to die, she would prefer that he be the cause of her death. However, she felt that she was less than prepared to die in this moment. She wiped at her face with a napkin as the bleeding slowed to a stop. Cleaning the blood from her lips and nose, she felt her eyes burning.

_He probably hates me_, she thought again. Trembling hands ruffled her dark hair. _He thinks I'm gross! I __**am**__ though! How could I have such impure thoughts about someone as cool as him?! I'm so uncool! So uncool, so uncool, so uncool!_

A hand reached out of the darkness and dragged her into the room by the front of her sweatshirt. Kugutsu's back slammed against the wall and she readied herself to deliver an apology, but she was cut off. Dry, scarred lips pressed hard against hers, muffling her words and effectively sending her into shocked silence.

The girl's heart fluttered as she felt a hand rub behind her right ear. She purred into the kiss and hesitantly lifted her hands to clutch the front of his sweatshirt. When a hand gripped her neck with four fingers, her blood ran cold.


	35. Chapter 35

This was supposed to feel good. It was supposed to reassure him that Kugutsu was still his loyal fan girl. That she was in love with him. The kiss should have been soft and sweet, like when she kissed him before.

Her lips tasted like blood. She was shaking and gripping the front of his sweatshirt, distracting him from whatever good he probably could have gotten out of the kiss. Then, to make matters even worse, Kugutsu hiccupped against his lips.

His eyes widened behind his unkempt, pale blue hair and Shigaraki broke the contact. One hand still held her neck, his little finger extended to prevent a horrific accident from happening. Staring down at her, he saw her face flushing a vibrant red and she looked like she was going to cry.

This was supposed to be a good moment for him and it was being ruined. He was getting irritated and was about to say something, but then his gaze dropped to his hand. Beneath his palm and fingers, her neck was still deeply bruised from her fight with Dabi. Barely hidden by her dark, scruffy hair, he was able to see the burn on her left cheek.

Shigaraki's irritation shifted from the horrible kiss to what Dabi had done to her. He sighed and lifted his free hand. The back of three fingers lightly traced over the skin right beside her burn. "You're mine," he murmured. "And he did this to you. Just like when he pet you."

Kugutsu blinked away tears and hiccupped again. Her hold on the front of his sweatshirt loosened as she seemed to lose her confidence. "I…_hate_ that he made me purr," she admitted.

"It's not your fault. It was subconscious. Wasn't it?" He saw her nod and she wiped at her tears. "You wouldn't choose to purr for him, would you?" She shook her head now, her ears flattened in despair. Shigaraki took a step closer and felt his dry, cracked lips pulling into a wicked little smile. "I want to be the only one you purr for you. Got it?"

He was sure this was the way to get things back on track. Mostly because this was the sort of thing he knew male characters would say in dating simulator games. He had played enough that he knew all of the sickeningly sweet cliches. As corny as this line sounded, though, it was the truth.

If he had any control over it, he would be the only one that could make Kugutsu purr. He would be the only one that touched her ears or got this close to her. He would be the only one that could get this sort of confidence boost, this rush of euphoria, from being around her.

She nodded and bit her lower lip. The hiccupping subsided. Her ears perked forward as she felt his fingers brush along the side of her cheek, carefully avoiding her burn. Kugutsu leaned into his touch like a plant craving the sun's warmth and her trembling fingers gripped tightly to his sweatshirt again. "I love you," she murmured, turning pink with embarrassment.

There it was. His pulse quickened and he trailed his fingertips beneath her chin. A soft, sweet purring escaped her as he rubbed at her sensitive skin. It was only for a moment, though, before he lifted her face to be sure she was looking at him. Kugutsu's sharp yellow eyes stared up at him, her pulse rapid beneath his fingertips.

He gave her an expectant stare until she gently pulled him down so his lips collided with hers again. The kiss still tasted bloody, but he could feel excitement stirring in his chest. Her lips were much softer than his and he knew it. Feeling them caress his dry, cracked lips was like being caressed by velvet.

Kugutsu seemed a little hesitant, but slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. He released her throat and let her pull him closer. When he wanted to get her away from the others, this was not his original plan. He had told her to wait in the back with Toga so he could gather his thoughts. He had planned to tell her she needed to be loyal to him and then he would follow that with a threat of some sort. He had trouble settling on what sort of threat he wanted to use, though.

It was as he was thinking about what to say that he started dwelling on that one moment earlier where she had been so close and rubbed against him. That had sparked certain feelings he was not exactly accustomed to. His experience was still really limited so to pinpoint this would be difficult.

He had seen certain things in mature rated games though. He knew what he wanted. Shigaraki could feel that want returning now as he let her pull him against her. His chest was against hers, his hips were brought against Kugutsu's, and he realized he wanted more than this. He wanted to make her all his. If they sealed the deal, he was sure she would never purr for anybody else.

His bed was somewhere behind him. Of course, there was also the computer chair. That is, if it could hold two people. The floor was always an option; he was pretty sure he had seen that before in a game. Or at least heard of it somewhere. There were so many possibilities. When she parted her lips slightly and the tip of her tongue ran along his lower lip, it felt like his heart jumped a little and he knew he had to make a decision.

A knocking at his door drew him out of his thoughts. Cold, hard reality struck as Shigaraki remembered that they were basically in the middle of a hostage situation. The other villains were still all in the bar. They had a captive or "potential new member". This was definitely not a good time for this.

Regardless of if he wanted to go further, it was a dumb idea right now. This was not something he wanted to share with everyone. He wanted the moment when he fully claimed Kugutsu to be between just himself and her. Away from these increasing annoyances.

Not about to admit to Kugutsu that they were quitting because the situation outside had dampened his mood, Shigaraki pulled away from her and grinned. He carefully set a hand on top of her head, rubbing behind an ear and listening to her purr for him. "Win that kid over and I might give you more. You want that, don't you? You want to be _all mine_ because you're my fan girl. Go ahead and say it."

Kugutsu seemed to have lost all composure at this point. Face a bright shade of pink, her cat-yellow eyes wide, she nodded and grinned. "Yeah! I'll win him over…no matter what. I promise."

"No touching this time."

"No touching," she agreed.

**Shift P.O.V**

She was on cloud nine after basically making out with her crush. Still remembering how it felt when he pressed so close, she felt as though little bubbles of happiness were popping in her veins. His kiss, despite being super chapped and kind of rough, was like a drug. She wanted more. She wanted to know what more he would really give her if she succeeded in her mission.

As Kugutsu walked back into the bar, behind Shigaraki, she thought about how she could try to win Bakugou over. It was a mess the last time she tried. She almost tried to kill him. The only thing that had stopped her from killing both the kid and Dabi was the fact that Twice was within range. He was too nice of a guy for her to kill.

_We need this kid to join us._ She sat beside Shigaraki at the bar, flushing pink when she felt his knee press against hers. _If I can get him to join…I get a reward. Ugh! Why am I getting so worked up about this, though?! I look so lame!_

"Hey, Yami. Remember that thing you were doing before?" The inquiry came from Spinner, who came up on her other side.

"What thing? I do a lot of things," she muttered. Kugutsu tried to keep her face neutral as she regarded the reptilian villain.

"You know! Remember when you were cyberstalking that kid Stain approved of? Can I see your phone?"

She hesitantly handed it over and watched as he scrolled through something. At her other side, Shigaraki was leaning over a bit to peer down at the screen from behind the hand he had secured over his face. "So? What is it?"

"Here we go! Okay, so I watched you last time when you were looking for the kid's profile." Spinner kept his voice low to prevent the student from hearing them, his back turned to the kid. "This has to be his mom, right? Ah! Here we go!"

It took a second for it to click, but soon Kugutsu realized why he was so excited. Bakugou Katsuki was lousy at posting pictures or status updates of interest, but Bakugou Mitsuki was amazing at it. Not to mention that she stupidly had her profile set to public instead of private. As if she had zero enemies.

She had posted a few frantic status updates about worrying for her kid's safety, but everything else seemed like typical mom stuff. Pictures of her and her husband. Pictures of her. Pictures of her son. Inevitably, a few old pictures came up of her son with a boy that had unruly dark green hair.

Kugutsu bit her lip as a smirk threatened to form. She took her phone from Spinner, instantly recognizing Midoriya, and she nodded to herself. _This is great! I couldn't ask for better fuel for that little dumpster fire over there! Looks like they're childhood friends. All I've got to do is pick away at him and talk about this brat. Sooner or later, he'll cave in and tell me what incentive he needs._

Taking her phone with her, she approached Bakugou and sat on the floor in front of him. "So. Things got kind of tense earlier, didn't they? Listen. I want to be your friend. As far as heroes go, you're actually kind of cool. So how about this? Let's talk."

She set her phone down on the floor and spread her arms out at her sides in a peaceful sort of gesture. "If you can listen to what I have to say, I'll treat you. I know that one stick of Pocky isn't a meal. You've got to be…pretty hungry by now, right? Boys like meat, don't they? If you cooperate with this little talk, I'll get you a _steak_. Sounds tasty, doesn't it? I know the best place to get one, too. High class."

The boy bristled when she first sat down, but slowly nodded now. "Fine. Whatever. It better be good!"

Kugutsu tilted her head, allowing herself to smirk. _So steak is what it takes? Do I even really need to drag "cute" little Midoriya into this?_ She scooted a bit closer and examined his expression. He still looked irritated, but ragged. Tired. Hungry. Still nowhere near broken, though.

She half-wondered if someone else had done or said something to him after she left the room. _Maybe he really is that hungry._ Her own stomach was starting to growl a little so she could sympathize.

The second that Midoriya's name was mentioned, she saw a fire spark in the boy's eyes. His teeth gritted, mouth twisting into a scowl. Kugutsu, feeding off his obvious irritation, knew now what she had to say. She told him how the League of Villains could help him get strong enough to beat the kid. He could act however he wanted, do whatever he wanted, if he joined them. They could make him stronger than Midoriya could ever hope to be.

When he actually agreed to join, Kugutsu's heart skipped a beat. She had to fight back a grin. Keeping her expression stoic, she could feel the mangled stump of her tail twitch slightly and it reminded her of something horrible.

_I did it. So Shigaraki's going to reward me, right? But what does he have planned?_ She looked over her shoulder toward the other villains as Bakugou started demanding food. Her eyes locked with Shigaraki's and she felt a rush of that fan girl bubbly bliss from before. _But I don't want him to see my tail…_

**Shift P.O.V**

In all honesty, he had expected this to take way longer. After all, his fan girl was crazy. He was sure she would lose her patience at least one more time and struggle a little more. Not that he was mad with how this turned out; he was just surprised. Not to mention that now he would need to reward her sooner.

Bakugou, their brand new member, was now loudly demanding food like he was a cat and it was three in the morning. Kugutsu was asking what exactly he wanted, typing his order into her phone. When she got it, she looked to Twice, who was still hanging around near that area. The other villain gave her a thumbs up to confirm he would watch the kid and she turned to rejoin the others at the bar.

"I'm going to make a food run," the girl announced. She was looking at Shigaraki as she spoke, her eyes focused only on him.

He disliked the idea of her going alone and looked toward the others. There was no way he was going to go out again. Last time had been annoying enough with all of the mouth-breathers clogging up the streets. His eyes skimmed over Dabi without a second glance and then surveyed his other options.

Compress would never be able to go out because he refused to take off his ridiculous costume and pretend to be a normal, functioning person. Toga was an okay option. Magne had decided to join Twice over by their new member. Kurogiri needed to stay in case Shigaraki needed something. So he settled his glare on Spinner, who was looking through his phone.

Shigaraki quietly seethed for a second. Spinner's little crush on Kugutsu was disgusting and glaringly obvious, but he had helped her find a way to persuade Bakugou to join them. Not that he was about to reward the reptilian villain; he just realized that he was actually worth something. Just not worth enough to send with Kugutsu on her food run.

"Toga. You go with her," he finally decided.

"Do I _have_ to? I wanna ask the newbie about Midoriya!" She caught sight of his glare and sighed. "Fine! Let's hurry, okay, Yami-chan?"


	36. Chapter 36

NeonHorizon: What kind of stuff do you want to see more of?

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Throughout her errand to get food for everyone, Kugutsu was thinking about Shigaraki. She remembered that wonderful moment they had shared in his room and her dark, twisted heart began to pound. The last time she had felt this happy was when she maimed that yakuza leader who had tried to recruit her.

Her good mood did not go unnoticed by Toga. The younger girl caught Kugutsu's grin. She saw the way Kugutsu would randomly flush a bright pink shade that made her freckles almost seem to fade. It made Toga grin. "Tomura promised you something good, didn't he?"

Under normal circumstances, she might have become defensive or insulted Toga, but Kugutsu's happiness was too great to be dampened. This was like the kind of high she got when she was covered in blood, twirling in a silent bar strewn with body parts. The kind of high she got when she finally beat a game on the highest difficulty setting.

"What is it?"

The other villain's grin spread and she shook her head. "Not going to say."

"What? Why not?! Come on! Tell me! I wanna know what he's giving you!"

"It's just between me and him." She quickened her pace, eager to get back to the bar and be close to Shigaraki again. "It's something pretty good, though."

Toga trotted to catch up to her, rolling her eyes when she reached Kugutsu. "Fine! I'll find out what it is on my own!"

_You'd better not._ The cat-earred villain lowered her head, her shaggy black hair falling forward over her eyes to hide her glare. The grin dropped to a snarl, her grip on the bags tightening. _If you interrupt us, I'll tear open your chest and rip your organs out while you're still alive. I'll be really careful and make sure you stay conscious until only your heart is left and you'll get to watch me pluck it out! You'll get to fade little by little and finally drop into nothingness!_

"What's got you so pissed off? Did you get chased by a dog or something?" Dabi was the first to approach the two when they entered the bar. He smirked down at Kugutsu's snarl and moved to set a hand on top of her head, but she quickly took a step back to put distance between them.

"Back up before I pull out your staples with a rusty spoon." She set her bags on the counter and looked around. Her heart felt like it was sinking into her stomach, her pointed feline ears flattening in despair. _Where's Shigaraki?_

"What's up? You look like someone stepped on your tail. Oh, my bad. You don't have one, do you?"

Kugutsu bristled and glared at Dabi from the corner of her eye, but she said nothing. Instead, she started going through the bags and grabbed her share. _It's fine. He's probably just in his room. I'll just take his food to him._

Before she could even leave the counter, Kurogiri cleared his throat to catch her attention. "Shigaraki Tomura needed to step out for a moment. Just leave his food in the bag."

Her ears flattened again. "Oh. Sure." She went to a corner and settled on the floor to eat her food, just wanting to be alone now. The disappointment was almost crushing. The entire time she was out running her errand, she had been thinking about him and what sort of reward he might have in store for her when she returned. She felt like a kid with a helium balloon that some jerk had just stuck a pin into.

_It's fine_, she told herself. _I was just too excited. I shouldn't have let myself get that excited; it was unprofessional. I'm acting unprofessional right now, too. I'm sitting here in the corner sulking instead of taking responsibility and making sure the new guy gets his food._

A look over at Bakugou showed that Twice had found some tongs and was now attempting to feed the kid while keeping a distance. In his defense, the kid still looked kind of like a rabid bunny so he was probably afraid of getting bitten. Compress was standing nearby, watching as if he was supervising, but he was most likely watching for the sake of entertainment.

"Hey, Yami. Can I sit with you?"

She turned her head and found Spinner standing a little ways away from her, holding one of the food bags. "Sure."

He sat on the floor beside her and, instead of starting on his food, pulled his phone from his pocket. "I got this mobile game earlier. Want to see it?"

Kugutsu leaned over as she ate, intrigued by the idea of a game she may not have played yet. It looked fun. It was a RPG style game that relied on side quests to get the best items. She watched him play it, trying to keep herself from smiling as she watched his character slash opponents in half with a large sword.

Her eyes widened as blood splattered the grass beneath the character and even dotted the screen as an added effect. A giddy, evil giggle started to bubble up and she covered her mouth. _That's so cool! That blood actually looks real! And the organs on the ground! They've got the same level of shine that real organs get when they're out of the body! This game is awesome!_

"I heard there's a flamethrower weapon available in the higher levels. I was looking through the blog the developers made and there's some fan info on other websites. Want me to send you the links?"

"Yes! This is awesome! Shigaraki's going to _love_ it!"

At her side, Spinner had been grinning. He had been having a good time, hanging out with his friend. Calling her his idol would have been kind of weird since his idol was already Stain. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged as disappointment took form on his face. "Yeah, I guess."

Kugutsu downloaded the game on her phone and was creating her character when she felt that she was being watched. She lifted her cat-yellow eyes and narrowed them on Dabi, who was standing over the two. "You need something?"

"What're you doing?"

"We're playing a mobile game." Spinner offered the explanation, wary of how the female villain beside him was bristling like a cat who caught the scent of a dog on the other side of a door. "Right, Yami?"

"No casuals," she stated, venom in her tone. She smirked as she finished the character creation. _I can't wait for Shigaraki to see this game. How did I not hear about this? It's only been out for a few weeks, but I'm usually on top of this kind of thing. I love indie games!_

To Kugutsu's irritation, Dabi sat on Spinner's other side and leaned over the reptilian villain to look at her phone. "Seriously? You made your character look like you? Boring."

"I'm not a crispy edge lord that has to pretty myself up in a game to feel better about my shitty appearance in real life. Sorry I can't relate to you."

He stayed silent for a moment, watching her accept an invite from Spinner to join his party. "So what's it like in the friend zone?" he finally taunted.

Spinner's head turned abruptly, eyes narrowed. "It's not-!"

"I'd be more interested in what it's like to be a half-burned trash panda sitting off to the side watching other people enjoy life. What's _that_ like? You're like that abandoned shitty toy someone got their distant relative's kid from a bargain bin. No one wants to play with you so you're just off by yourself pretending to like it that way, but it's eating away at you."

Both of the guys looked at Kugutsu, surprised that she could say something so incredibly scathing while maintaining a blank expression. She was practicing the movements for her character so her eyes were glued to the screen rather than glancing over at the other two villains. _As cool as this game is, the jumping animation looks weird. The avatar looks like they're jumping through a hoop or something._

**Shift P.O.V**

Shigaraki had a decision to make. An important decision. Something he needed to consider really carefully before making a rash choice that could potentially end with his rabid fan girl becoming even more hopelessly devoted to him or possibly abandoning him. Honestly, there was no telling how she might react if he nudged their relationship; she was insane.

Their relationship itself seemed to have really picked up since the night she sent a double with the Vanguard Action Squad to attack the summer camp. Her devotion had become a lot more apparent and his affection for her had started to grow at a rapid rate. After sleeping next to each other, it seemed to have dispelled any doubts about them being in a relationship now.

He wanted to make Kugutsu his. The thought of her purring for anyone else or touching another man's knee made his blood start to boil. However, it was something he had never actually done before. Prior to Giran introducing him to Kugutsu, and then the League members joining, he had lived in moderate isolation.

If he did take Kugutsu, it would be his first time. He had no experience with this. He wanted to go into this feeling prepared, if he did intend to go further. He wanted to be better informed. Like reading through tips in a blog before tackling a hard level in a game. Researching the opponent, researching different ways to approach the level, learning weaknesses and knowing what equipment was best suited for the attempt.

When he looked at it that way, it was a little easier to consider his options. Posing the question of if he wanted to "attempt the level", he decided that he did want to. Of course he wanted to. If what they had done so far could supply him with so much confidence and make him feel good, he was sure that pushing further would be ten times better.

Shigaraki looked at his phone screen. At the red dot that represented Kugutsu Kurayamai on a map of Kamino ward. He watched her approach the bar and he felt satisfaction when the dot stopped moving. She was back in the bar.

He was a block away, in an alley, trying to decide on his next move. Shaking his head, he pushed away thoughts of his fan girl and tried to focus on something else. If he thought about something else, it might help him with the Kugutsu reward issue.

She had won over Bakugou and convinced the boy to join them. However, he knew that people would still be looking for the kid. Heroes, police, All Might. The boy was someone that they were desperately trying to locate because, in their eyes, he was a captive in need of rescue.

Thanks to Kugutsu, Shigaraki had been given a new game piece. A new character option. Now the question was how to use this new game piece. He would have to test Bakugou's loyalty first, but then he could find ways to apply the kid's abilities to benefit the League of Villains.

He started walking back to the bar, taking his time. The best way to test the boy's quirk would be to have Kugutsu use shadow shields to keep the explosions from doing too much damage. That would mean having her get close to him again.

Shigaraki scratched at his neck, scowling at the thought. His fan girl; talking to the boy and having to get close to him. She seemed to have the most experience out of everyone in the League, though. He knew she had wanted to be a villain since she was a kid and she had been actively trying to become one. She had experience as a villain recruiter, hostage keeper, assassin, money collector. Whether she knew it or not, Kugutsu was actually a skilled villain.

He liked that ambition. He liked her loyal nature. He liked that she tried to keep her emotions bottled up, but was happy to share her feelings with him alone. Shigaraki's devoted fan girl. The only one who could give him such a powerful boost of confidence from a simple look. The only one who actually craved his touch and blushed over his smile.

It was still weird to think about how much she loved him. No one had ever loved him that much. He paused outside of the bar and checked his phone again. She still showed as being in the bar. He chewed on his lip, realizing that he had never reached a conclusion.

_How do you reward a psycho fan girl like her? She'd be happy with anything, wouldn't she? She would probably cry if I just touched her ears again_, he thought with a wicked grin. _But I want more than that._

He slipped into the bar through the door in the alley and hesitated in the dark passage behind the actual bar. Something unpleasant crossed his mind as he stepped inside and now it was like a barrier keeping him from going forward. Giran had mentioned it before; Kugutsu had been into other guys before Shigaraki. She probably had experience that he lacked. She probably slept with those guys.

Shigaraki's nails dug deeper into his neck as he scratched. The thought of her with someone else made his stomach turn. Even if it was in the past, even if it happened before she had ever even heard of him, the idea of Kugutsu fawning over another man filled him with loathing.

_She's mine. My one and only fan girl. I…__**hate**__…thinking about someone else touching her._ His anger escalated until he tasted bile. His vision blurred slightly as he felt his pulse pound with fury. Without another moment's hesitation, he entered the bar and scanned the room.

The first thing that caught his eye was Twice attempting to feed their new member using a pair of tongs. Shigaraki tilted his head slightly, puzzled and slightly amused by the sight. He looked over the rest of the room and everyone else seemed to be relaxing. Including his fan girl, who was sitting with Spinner and Dabi.


	37. Chapter 37

NeonHorizon: I don't know how descriptive I want to go with the next chapter...

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"You're in a room full of villains with incredible quirks. Each of us could kill you in five different ways if you try to start trouble. Do you understand?"

"Just let me up already! I've gotta go to the bathroom!"

Kugutsu's left ear twitched and she nodded at Twice to release their new member. The second his restraints were off, she sent a shadowy tendril shooting out to wrap around the boy's wrist and link it to hers. _He said he'd join us, but we can't totally trust him. At least this way he won't be able to run away._

Bakugou glared down at the link, but made no move to try to remove it. "I said I'd join! You think I'm gonna run away?! You said you'd make me stronger!"

She nodded, keeping her face neutral. "We will. As long as you don't double cross us. Listen…I've had captives before. I've had a captive say they'll cooperate and then they turn against me. And then…we've got liters of blood on our hands and I have to hide a few bodies."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"She's psychotic," Dabi spoke up from the side.

Kugutsu ignored him and pushed her free hand into her hoodie pocket. "Bathroom. Then breakfast. Let's go."

This was the day after she had convinced him to join. She had slept in the bar with everyone else, curled up in a corner. Of course, she would have preferred to sleep curled up next to Shigaraki in his room. After how intimate things got last time, she felt self-conscious. If things had gone any further, he would have inevitably seen the disfigured stump of her tail and he would have been disgusted.

It had happened before. Kugutsu would like a guy, they would spend some time together and, if she really liked them, they would try to hook up, the guy would see her tail, get grossed out, and Kugutsu would leave their mangled corpse in a dark alley after being dumped. She felt a grin trying to take form as she waited outside of the bathroom, remembering the last ex she had disposed of.

What any normal, sane villain would probably be thinking about now was how to deal with the heroes and police officers currently searching for Bakugou. Honestly, the bar was far from being a secure hideout. All Might could easily smash through the wall like a powdered drink mascot and then it would all be over for them.

That was the last thing on her mind right now. Kugutsu ruffled her scruffy black hair in the dim passage, trying to calm herself down. _I need to focus. I have to act professional again. Every time I'm around Shigaraki…my heart starts racing and I can't control myself! I look so lame!_

"Hey, Yami. Everything okay?"

She froze and looked toward the door to the rest of the bar. Her face went red, but thankfully she was in a dark enough area for it to go unnoticed. "I'm fine."

"Do you want me to-?"

"I've got this," she interrupted, holding up a hand. Her ears flattened in embarrassment and Kugutsu stared at Spinner. He was just lingering near the door like he was undecided if he really believed she had everything under control.

She decided to just let him stand on the other side of the door as they waited for their new member to finish up. _If he tries to run, I'll know_, she thought as she looked to the shadowy link between her and Bakugou. _And if he runs…I'll cut off his legs. I'll livestream him being broken apart online so all of his classmates can watch him die!_

"Yami? You were grinning. You have an idea, right? What is it?" Spinner gave her an excited half-grin in the dim corridor.

"I can't tell you yet." She smirked as the bathroom door opened and tilted her head as she looked at the teenager who emerged. "Wash your hands?"

"Shut up! I'm starving. What'd you get me for food?"

"Don't talk to Yami like that! You just joined so respect your superiors, kid!" Spinner turned from scolding Bakugou to look at Kugutsu. "Shigaraki's still out. Should we wait for him or just eat?"

She was blissfully chewing on her thumbnail as she walked ahead of the two, having fallen into a gory daydream. Imagining the way Bakugou would scream as his bones were snapped and limbs contorted. The terror that would be in his eyes. The trauma this sight would cause his classmates. The baby heroes would be broken in spirit and that would be the perfect time to strike and eliminate them all before they could act first.

**Shift P.O.V**

After staying up all night, researching and planning, everything seemed to be coming together. Of course, sleep deprivation can make anything look good. He rubbed at one eye as he paused in his steps, grumbling.

He felt sleepy, but this was a sleepiness he was used to. Not the kind you get from staying up for days on end, but the kind of tired you feel after you stay up all night playing a new game. Telling yourself over and over again that you would go to bed after the next level, then the next level, then after getting that weapon, then after upgrading it. Finally, it reaches ten o'clock in the morning and there is no point in trying to sleep.

Leaning against a doorway, he listened for any sounds that might indicate someone else was there. Just the sounds from cars passing by. Normal city noises. The building seemed to be just as abandoned as it looked from the outside.

Shigaraki was convinced this was the place to go. After all, heroes and cops were still going to be looking for Bakugou. Even if the brat had agreed to join. Now it was just a matter of getting everyone moved to this new location. Kurogiri's help would make it go a lot faster; he would just need to remember the coordinates of the building.

He continued to wander through the old building and took in every detail. Old wooden floors. Walls that were a little crumbly. Most of the windows were intact, but with spider-web cracks. It was a three story building so that meant plenty of rooms and plenty of places to hide if they had to. An ideal hideout.

It was on the second floor that he came across the old futon. Not in terrible condition; just a little ragged in appearance. It smelled a bit stale, but not unbearably. He stared down at it for a long moment before his lips curled into a grin, cracking his chapped skin.

_How perfect_, he thought as he nudged the futon with his shoe. _It's almost like it's fate. Let's see. What else do I need now?_ He made a mental note of where the futon was in the building and casually left the premises.

Shigaraki had spent a large chunk of his night researching and trying to decide if he wanted to attempt the next level of making Kugutsu his. He was determined that if he did attempt this, he was going to set about it with confidence. He was going to act like he knew more than her in the hopes of actually having learned more than she already knew.

That thought made his head hurt a little so he paused on the sidewalk and chewed at his lower lip. If he made this move, so many changes would take place. Their safe little location would be traded for this big pit of despair and broken dreams so they would at least have more room.

They needed to test their new member and this area could be a good place for that. Shigaraki needed to start giving the rest of the League more orders anyway; it barely felt like he was in charge at the moment. After tonight, he was sure that would change. His confidence would magnify and he would direct them like a true leader.

**Shift P.O.V**

"Nnngh?" Kugutsu jolted as her eyes slid open and were met with the sight of Shigaraki's face looming inches above hers. His dry, cracked lips were stretched into a grin made from nightmares and he reached out a hand to rest it on top of her head. _What…?_ Her face burned with a blush.

Shigaraki had been gone all day. The others, without direction, were left trying to figure out what to do. Dabi took the opportunity to leave and go do whatever edgy bastards do in their spare time, Twice following after him to get cigarettes. Spinner and Kugutsu had played their mobile game as Toga and Magne watched. When night came and Shigaraki was still absent, Kugutsu had gone to sleep in the corner as she had the night before.

Now he was crouching in front of her. Her blue-haired idol with eyes the color of blood and lips so chapped that they bled. The grin he was wearing would have made any sane person's stomach twist in unease, but it made Kugutsu's heart skip a beat.

All around the bar, the others were dozing. Even their new member. Shigaraki's hand drifted to her left ear, four fingertips skimming along the curve of her feline ear and drawing a quiet purr from her. Those same fingertips slowly trailed down the side of her face and beneath her chin, making her purr even louder.

To her embarrassment, she leaned into his touch and bit her lower lip. "Sh-Shigaraki? You were gone-"

"Come with me." His grin spread even wider and it was like something from a fever dream. Like his excitement was just too much for his own face to handle so it might split. He gripped her wrist, careful to keep a finger lifted to prevent his quirk from hurting her.

Kugutsu got up and followed him eagerly. Her excitement was quickly mirroring his. This was a feeling like when a new game case is opened and the game is put into the console. The feeling of anticipation and bliss as the title screen comes up.

To her surprise, the villain led her out of the bar. Outside, the dark sky showed no stars and the summer air was warm. She regretted not taking off his sweatshirt before they left. Of course, Kugutsu was not about to start complaining. She loved that he was still letting her wear it. It was like having a constant hug from Shigaraki and that was all she could ask for.

Walking ahead of her, still holding her wrist, he had his head down so his hair covered his eyes. Shigaraki was silent, but scratching at his neck with his free hand. Almost as if he was anxious about something.

She wanted to ask where they were going, but she bit her lip to stop herself. _I don't want to upset him. Wherever he's taking me, it's probably for something important. Maybe he wants to talk about a plan to kill All Might! Or he might have a plan to throw the heroes off our trail! But why would he only tell __**me**__ about it? Does he…really trust me more than them?_

He eventually led her into a three-story building that looked abandoned. There were no sounds within to suggest anyone else was there. Of course Kugutsu, having plenty of experience as a broker's assistant, was on high alert for attackers. She had been in buildings like this before to do work for Giran. She knew people could easily hide away in a place like this.

The girl's feline ears flattened as she followed him up to the second floor, her muscles tensed and ready to fight off an attacker at any moment. When he led her through a doorway, she finally summoned the courage to ask. She only managed to get his name out before she caught sight of the interior of the room and her words died on her lips.

It could only be described as the creepiest attempt at romance ever to exist. An old, worn futon on the floor. A few battery-powered lanterns around the room to cast a pale glow on the scene. Beside the futon was a plastic bag with a few items she could see through the plastic and easily identify. All of this in a warm, abandoned building. A little after one o'clock in the morning.

Kugutsu, ever the blissful fan girl, failed to see the creepiness here. To anyone else, this would have most likely looked like a crime scene in the making. This was the sort of thing people probably saw shortly before their organs were forcibly cut out and sold on the black market. Kugutsu's rose-colored view, altered by her insatiable love for Shigaraki, had her seeing a romantic makeshift bedroom instead of a potential site for homicide.

Her heart was racing at an insane pace as she watched him sit on the futon, his back leaning against the wall behind him. Locks of pale blue hair fell partially over his face and the villain's eyes narrowed. He lifted a hand and beckoned to her with one finger, his other hand resting at his side near the bag.

She hesitantly approached, her palms starting to sweat and a lump of nervousness forming in her throat. They had never been this alone together. Usually when they were alone, it was at the bar and Kurogiri was still in the building. Or they were together at a shopping center, but they were surrounded by mouth-breathers. In this moment, it felt like they were the only people left in the world.

Shigaraki reached up to grip her sleeve and pulled her down onto her knees so she was kneeling between his legs. His free hand lifted, four fingertips trailing along her cheek and then down toward her neck. He paused, eyes narrowing on the bruises that were still slowly fading. Reminded of when someone else had touched her. His index finger wedged into her choker necklace and dragged her down.

Kugutsu's lips were met with his chapped ones as the male villain's other hand pressed against her upper back, keeping one finger elevated. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might pop. When he finally broke the kiss, she blushed red.

He released her choker and dropped his hand lower, gripping her belt buckle. "I want something. Something special that only my loyal fan girl can give me."


	38. Chapter 38

NeonHorizon: This is a **WARNING**. This chapter has some mature stuff that isn't swearing or gore. I didn't get overly descriptive this time, but if people really like this, I can always be more descriptive next time.

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Kugutsu could feel heat settle across her face as she let his words sink in. Her cat-yellow eyes darted to the side, looking to the bag on the floor next to him, and then her pulse began to quicken past any pace it had ever reached before. She felt an anxious lump forming in her throat and tried to swallow it, trying to maintain a cool façade as she processed what he just said to her.

The blue-haired villain had little patience for this. It was clear from the way he glared that he had been anticipating this for the better part of the day. Waiting for this moment. Looking forward to this. So her hesitation was setting him on edge.

Tugging at her belt buckle again, he brought her face down so it was inches from his. "You _are_ my loyal fan, aren't you? Don't you want to give me-?"

"I-I do!" she blurted out. The girl's feline ears flattened in embarrassment and she glanced away again. "I'm just…I'm nervous."

A bitter scowl started to form. "Why are you nervous? You should be-"

"I just…I don't want to disappoint you," she admitted. Kugutsu felt her stomach twist in knots when she looked at him again. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Shigaraki's grin. _He looks so excited. He really wants this? He really wants something like this from me? But he could do better! He's so much cooler!_

His free hand lifted from next to him and gripped her wrist, careful to avoid using all five fingers. Through the pale blue hair falling over his eyes, he narrowed his gaze and settled her hand high on his leg, just beneath the hem of his hooded sweatshirt. "You won't disappoint me. You're going to do your best. You want to impress me, don't you?"

"I-I do." She was glad for the dim light now since she was a hundred percent sure her face was almost glowing red with embarrassment and nervousness. _He wants this! He really wants this! Wait, but…what does he want me to do?_

Again, she glanced over at the bag and her stomach did a flip. Kugutsu had a habit of being super awkward every time she tried to impress Shigaraki. Her biggest fear right now was that she might get a nosebleed and bleed all over him because her brain was steadily filling with admittedly impious fan girl thoughts and images.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Um…how do you want to start?"

This seemed to irritate him. His scowl deepened and he leaned back against the wall again. "How do you usually start? I want you to treat me special. I'm your idol, aren't I? Do something that you think I'd like and I might reward you when I'm done."

_I can do this_, she tried to assure herself. Dropping her gaze, she gently slid her hand a little higher on his leg; going beneath his sweatshirt. _I can handle this. No nosebleeds! A nosebleed would ruin this! If I bleed all over him, that's it! He'll never want to look at me again!_

Closing her eyes to try to help herself stay calm, Kugutsu found her fingers coming into contact with his hip. She blushed an even brighter red as she felt his bare skin against hers and heat started traveling through her body. _Okay. Okay, I can totally handle this! Right? Right?!_

She heard his breathing hitch when she dug her fingers into the waist of his pants and bowed her head further. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. A small hint of pride started to bubble up as she forced herself not to look up. Kugutsu moved both hands to the front of his pants and summoned up enough courage to take the next step.

The female villain leaned back a little when she had successfully opened his pants and pulled him out. Kugutsu felt the heat from earlier settle in the lower part of her abdomen and tried not to look too excited, but it was hard not to. For a fan girl, this was the ultimate gift. Here her idol was; offering her the most intimate gift he possibly could.

The girl's left hand rested on his thigh as her right gently gripped him. She bit her lower lip as she felt the warmth of his skin against her palm and she bowed her head further to try to hide behind her scruffy black hair. This was nothing like any time she had been with a guy before. Her love for Shigaraki was greater than her love for any guy she had been with in the past and she wanted desperately to make him happy.

She did her best to try to give him pleasure. Kugutsu had been with a few guys before so she had some idea of what she was doing. Her skills were absolutely nothing to brag about. Especially since most of the guys she had been with had ended up torn apart and disposed of like trash. She managed to at least get him kind of close before he gripped her wrist again, with care, and grumbled for her to look at him.

Shigaraki saw the way his fan girl was blushing. He saw the excited sheen to her eyes and he saw the way her feline ears were perked forward. He was ready for more. His other hand gripped the hem of her sweatshirt, careful not to destroy it with his quirk, and a twisted sort of grin took form on his lips.

"I want more," he stated bluntly. "Take this off. And those pants. I need to prepare."

_Prepare?_ Her breathing was heavy already, just from touching him. Kugutsu was excited by the idea of more, but she was still nervous. Especially about the ruined stump of her tail. She knew it was grotesque; she had heard that from guys in the past as well as girls in the locker room in high school. It was her greatest insecurity.

She took off the sweatshirt, but hesitated to take off her shorts. The second they were off, he would be able to see the outline of the stump. It was just above her rear and it was horrifying to look at. What had been a really pretty, sleek black cat tail when she was a kid had become a mangled-looking scar-riddled remnant of an appendage that brought her nothing but shame.

It was as her shorts were sliding down, with her head bowed and her eyes closed to block out the disappointed look he would definitely have, that her fears were completely banished. Kugutsu felt a stare directed at her and opened one eye to peek down at him. Her face instantly went red once more.

"You have a tail." There was clear excitement in his tone and there was a pleased smirk settled on the villain's face. "You had a tail this whole time. Come here. I want to have a better look."

Kugutsu moved closer, still standing, and soon found herself on her knees again. Kneeling on the futon, between his legs, as Shigaraki looked at her tail from over her shoulder. She felt two fingers dig into the waistband of her underwear and pull a little, giving him a better view of her disfigured appendage. To her alarm, his other hand settled on her lower back and a pair of fingers brushed over it.

She arched her back, leaning into him and feeling the villain's excited appendage press against her lower abdomen. Immediately, warmth trickled from her nose and she knew she was having a nosebleed. It was difficult for her twisted little fan girl heart to not race at the feeling of her idol being so excited by her.

However, something felt different now. A timid look down showed that she had been right when she guessed one of the items in the bag; it was a box of protection. He had applied a protective measure and was prepared to start when he deemed the time right. Kugutsu subconsciously squirmed a little and felt his hands leave her lower back.

The dark-haired villain was pulled up so she straddled his hips and she felt him brush against her. She bit her lip to try to keep herself from blurting out a sickly sweet fan girl love declaration that was already trying to force its way past her lips. The thin barrier between him and her was pulled aside by Shigaraki and the moment happened.

Kugutsu had fantasized about it after Dabi had brought it up. Wondered what it would be like to be claimed by her crush. She was eager to feel what it would really be like. He eased in and then thrust his hips upwards to become fully sheathed in one movement. Her arms went around his neck without thinking, holding him close and releasing a gasp. At the same time, his breathing hitched and the four fingers that dug into her hips on both sides dug in even deeper. His nails sank into her skin, creating eight bloody crescent shapes.

The two remained still for a moment. He was sitting with his back against the wall and she was sitting on his lap. Shigaraki's head rested between her neck and shoulder for a moment, his warm breath skimming over her collarbone and sliding beneath the collar of her shirt. His arms slid around her waist to pin her against him and began moving his hips at a steady pace.

Kugutsu, being eager to please him and still desperately wanting to impress him, began to gently rock herself so she was helping. It felt like little bubbles of happiness were exploding in her veins. Her heart was fluttering and she felt the warmth between them growing with each grind against him.

She never thought something like this would happen. She was still surprised he let her be so close to him sometimes. Being with Shigaraki like this was more than a dream come true for her. It was something greater. Something ineffable.

When his arms fell from around her waist, she was afraid he planned to push her off of him, but instead found him lifting her legs around him. The blue-haired villain lifted his face from the side of her neck and his voice was just loud enough for her feline ears to pick up.

"How's it feel? You're being taken by your idol, aren't you? I thought a loyal fan like you would be screaming for more, but you're being so quiet. You don't want to _disappoint_ me, do you? We're all alone, but you haven't said a word since I put it in you. Come on. Make me proud of you, Kugutsu."

It pushed her over the edge. Hearing him say these words was exciting enough, but when he said her name it made her lose any control she had before. Any shadow touching her bare skin began to dance and stretch across the walls and floor. Her lips parted and Kugutsu released his name in a panting, begging way that seemed to fuel him.

Shigaraki's pace changed. It quickened and he pressed a hand against her lower back, keeping one finger lifted. Trying to hit deeper. Trying to claim more. In his own attempt at impressing her, wanting to hear her say his name again, he carefully put a hand between them and pressed a finger at a particularly sensitive area that he knew contained a lot of nerves. She instantly tightened her arms around his neck and his name left her lips in a half-scream. He felt her contract and he was unable to hold back the groan that came with his own unraveling.

The satisfaction was overshadowed by her embarrassment at acting like a needy cat in heat in front of her idol. Kugutsu buried her face in the side of his neck, trying to hide her shame. At the same time, he was trying to steady his breathing as three fingers sank into her shaggy black hair to hold her close.

Her heart was still beating erratically, but she could hear his pulse in the side of his neck. His heart was racing just as fast as hers. Kugutsu decided to be bold and used a hand to wipe the blood away from her nose before she leaned back. Her eyes briefly met his crimson ones before she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. The chapped, broken lips were tightly closed for a moment before he decided to indulge her and kiss back.

It would have been nice to sleep side by side in this private room, away from the other villains and the bar, but reality is harsh and they needed to go back. Kugutsu used some tissues from the bag of supplies he had brought to clean herself up, pausing briefly to wonder about the items in the bag that gone unused. It was as she was finishing getting dressed that she heard a noise out in the hall.

The building was supposed to be abandoned. It had been empty of other people when they entered. Half-crouching, Kugutsu moved to creep toward the door, but Shigaraki stepped in front of her. He scowled at the intrusion and nodded for her to follow him.

They made it halfway down the hall before someone came crashing out of one of the other empty rooms. A young man holding a beer bottle and grinning, his face red. "What's going on here? I knew I heard something! What a shitty place to bang!" He turned toward the stairs, cupping a hand around the side of his mouth. "Hey, guys! I found the lovebirds! It's a couple of-!"

A hand darted out, gripping the man by the face with all five fingers and quickly reducing his head to dust. The decay spread throughout his body rapidly and Shigaraki glared in the direction of the stairs. Knowing that there were others intruding on his new hideout made him irritated, but knowing that he and his fan girl had been heard sparked a fury in him.

Before he could say anything, the shadows around Kugutsu flared and stretched. The girl was delighted at his disposal of the first intruder and blushed when she realized Shigaraki was looking at her. "Let me take care of the others."

He nodded and was soon treated to the screams and splatters of her ripping apart the other intruders in the stairwell. Blood splashed onto her face, hands, and legs where her shorts failed to cover her skin, but she looked insanely happy when Shigaraki approached her again. This was, so far, the best day of her life.

She greeted him with a bloody grin. Kugutsu was beyond happy. Pleasing Shigaraki was even better than killing her enemies. Even better than beating the hardest level of a game. When he grinned back at her, she knew he felt the same and it that made her knees weak.


	39. Chapter 39

NeonHorizon: I feel like I can do better than chapter 38. So we might be seeing another chapter like that, but better...

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Kugutsu woke up to the sounds of what seemed to be a really stupid, decently annoying, argument a few feet away from her. She opened her eyes and frowned, realizing she was lying on her side on the cold, hard floor. Still wearing Shigaraki's hoodie and apparently hugging her bag like it was a stuffed animal.

_What's…happening?_ She was facing the wall so she pushed herself to sit up and turned a little to look behind her. Still pretty groggy from just waking up, she saw Spinner standing between her and Dabi. Arguing with him and apparently pretty worked up about whatever it was.

She rubbed her right eye with a hand, yawning. Looking to the rest of the bar, she became a little confused. Kurogiri was behind the bar, their new member was devouring some food while seated at the counter, and no one else seemed to be around. _What happened? Last night…actually happened, right? I didn't dream that, did I?_

A look down at her hands showed that there was dried blood on them, as well as on her hoodie. A grin tugged at her lips. This just confirmed it. Last night really had happened. She really had "done it" with Shigaraki. This blood was from those trespassers she killed afterwards.

"Doesn't matter anymore anyway. The kitty's awake." Dabi nodded toward her, making Spinner turn to look and go quiet. The charred villain smirked and tilted his head slightly. "Have a nice cat nap?"

The girl bristled, her irritation momentarily overshadowing her moment of fan girl bliss. "What're you looking at, crispy creep?"

"Ouch. That one almost stung." He turned away to walk off, but paused and looked over his shoulder at her. "Might wanna wipe away that drool before the leader comes out."

"I don't drool in my sleep. Don't project your gross habits on me." Nonetheless, she wiped at the corner of her mouth as soon as he turned away. "What time is it? And where is everyone?" she mumbled, pushing herself to stand.

"It's past noon. Shigaraki hasn't come out of his room yet and everyone else just started leaving. They'll probably be back, but this is a big problem! What if the cops see them? Twice isn't hard to miss running around with his full costume on!"

"Right…and Toga's self-control isn't great when she sees a guy she likes." Kugutsu ruffled her dark, scruffy hair and yawned again. _I slept great, but I wish I could've slept with Shigaraki. That would've been perfect._

She put her bag's strap across her chest and walked to the bar with Spinner following. Leaning against the counter beside Bakugou, she put on a neutral expression. "Did anyone say where they were going?"

Kurogiri had been observing the teenager seated at the bar and now seemed to lift his misty head to look at Kugutsu. "Magne said that she would be picking up some supplies and Toga said that she was going to the store. Twice informed me that he needed to buy cigarettes. Compress did not say where he was going and Dabi just left as we were speaking."

_That gutter-spawn ragdoll._ She ruffled her hair again, trying to stay calm. _I don't want to leave. I don't want to miss seeing Shigaraki if he comes out of his room soon. But…if I can bring everyone back…he'll be really impressed! Maybe then…maybe he'll…want to do it again._

Kurogiri's glowing eyes narrowed as he saw her face turning a vibrant shade of red, despite maintaining her neutral expression. "The last time you attempted to bring Dabi back-"

"I know what happened. I have a scar to remind me," she muttered, subconsciously lifting a hand to the still healing burn on her right cheek. "I'll just…focus on the others. At least the girls and Twice. I'll be quick."

"You're not going alone! I'll help!" Spinner argued. "I'll do better this time!"

"What're you talking about?" the teenager growled, finally looking up from his food.

Kugutsu raised an eyebrow, seeing some rice stuck to his cheek. _Messy brat. You're…what? Fifteen? Sixteen? How'd you even manage to get rice on your cheek?_ She reached out and plucked it off using her nails. "The big kids are going out to play. Wait here."

"What the hell?! You convinced me to join this stupid group and now you're gonna just make me sit on the side? What was the point-?"

She planted a hand over his face, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Be smart." Kugutsu heard a growl and pulled her hand away, her feline ears twitching at the sound of what she suspected might be Kurogiri's chuckle. If he was capable of being amused. She was unsure of his range of emotions since his entire face was just a dark, misty vortex.

The girl led the way into the dark passage that would lead them to the alley, but paused in the dim hallway. She listened closely for any sounds coming from Shigaraki's room. His door was closed and everything seemed quiet.

Kugutsu was a little hesitant to leave the bar as she stared at the closed door. What she really wanted was to go into Shigaraki's room and be with him. To bask in the twisted glory of her idol. Of course, she knew better. She was afraid of being too forward and pushing him away from her. Making him disgusted by her enthusiasm and eagerness to please him. Besides, she really wanted to gather everyone together again and impress him with her leadership skills.

The two villains slipped out into the alley after she convinced Spinner to shed the most glaringly obvious costume pieces from his outfit so they might be able to blend in with normal civilians. She kept her hands in her pockets, thinking about which villain to track down first. The easiest to convince to come back would be Twice. However, he could probably be saved for last for that reason.

"So…why were you arguing with Dabi?" she finally asked.

"Huh? Oh! He was saying he was going to take your bag so I was defending you!" Spinner replied kicking at a pebble and sending it tumbling ahead of them.

"Thanks." She tried to run her fingers through her hair, but they got caught in her tangled locks. Sighing in frustration, she tried to detangle them without looking completely lame. "We need to find Toga first. She's the most likely to-"

Kugutsu's words were interrupted by a sharp yelp escaping her lips as something pulled at the strap of her bag from behind. She nearly lost her balance and tried to turn quickly to snap at whoever had grabbed her. Instead of shouting, she went silent and felt her face start to heat up as her eyes met a pair of blood red ones. "Sh-Shigaraki?"

The blue-haired villain was frowning and looked from her to Spinner. The reptilian villain swallowed audibly when he was met with a fierce glare and took a step away from Kugutsu. "Why did you leave?"

Embarrassment made her heart do a flip and she lowered her gaze to the ground. One hand lifted to hold onto her bag's strap as she tried to calm her racing pulse. Worse than the blushing or the fast pace of her heart, Kugutsu felt something else. A warm, tingly sensation in her lower abdomen that was brought on just by the sight of Shigaraki.

"I was…going to bring everyone back," she admitted. Kugutsu's eyes closed as he stepped closer and set his free hand on the top of her head, keeping his little finger raised. She felt his thumb and other fingers run through her hair as he rubbed, a humiliating purr starting to come from her.

_Just seeing him makes me remember last night! This is a problem! I can…feel myself getting excited. I want to do it again, but I can't just ask for something like that! It was a gift! It was a really, really big deal!_ She winced and realized she had been biting her thumbnail and accidentally bit her fingertip in her nervousness.

"You wanted to impress me." He let her nod and released her bag so he could scratch at his neck. Deep, angry red lines were left in the wake of his nails as he slid his glare toward Spinner. The sort of glare that would probably be directed at a fellow gamer that just grabbed the last copy of the new release you had been wanting for a long time, but you did not want to pay full price so you waited for it to be in the clearance section and now some jerk was taking it away from you and you just want to grab their throat in your decay-quirk hands and watch them crumble away into nothingness.

"We know where three of them went," Spinner started explaining. "So we were just going to try to get Toga, Magne, and Twice to come back."

"Oh really? Look at you. You're so helpful." To Spinner's unease, Shigaraki's scowl twitched into a grin. The man's dry, chapped lips were pulling into a particularly wicked expression as his fingers drifted to rub behind Kugutsu's left ear. As expected, she started subconsciously rubbing against his hand.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go look for Toga? We'll handle the rest." Shigaraki moved a little closer to Kugutsu, but his stare continued to be fixed on Spinner. "Bring Toga back and you're done. That's not too much of a challenge, is it? Don't you want to prove yourself?"

"Yeah! I can handle that!" Spinner seemed to brighten at the idea of having only one target, despite having to split from his friend. "I'll bring Toga back without any casualties! I'm on it!"

Kugutsu watched him go and felt a slight pressure as he leaned down, resting his forehead against the back of her head. Warm air brushed over the girl's neck as the villain behind her sighed and she bit her lip to keep a particularly needy sort of sound from escaping. The hand slid from her hair and the female villain soon felt her idol's arms sliding around her to pull her back against him.

She had an underlying fear that her intimate activity with him had been a dream. That she might have just sleep-walked out of the bar at night and killed someone. It would not be the first time she murdered someone while she was barely awake. This made her feel better, though. It at least made her feel more like it had really happened.

"Such good friends," he murmured behind her. "You're such great friends with that guy. I don't get it."

"He…likes games, too. Oh!" Kugutsu rummaged in her bag for her phone and tried to suppress a smile as she drew it out. "He showed me this game. It's like a mobile RPG with really good visuals and lots of side quests. It's really fun and the gore…really looks like gore. The body parts and blood are super realistic. Here."

She brought up the game and held her phone up a little to show him. "I joined his party for now, but I thought you-"

Shigaraki carefully grabbed her wrist, keeping one finger lifted, and pulled her hand up more so he could look at the screen. His blood-colored eyes narrowed as he examined the game. "I'll start a party," he determined in a grumble. "And you'll join my group. It doesn't make sense for my girl to follow someone else."

The villain released her wrist and pulled his own phone from his pocket to download the game. He started walking down the alley toward the street. After all, they still had to find Magne and Twice and bring them back to the bar before the police or heroes could catch them.

_His…girl?_ Kugutsu quickly put a hand over her grin, but she still released some manic giggling. She felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she jogged to catch up to him. _His girl? His girl! I'm…his girl! I'm Shigaraki's girl!_

Her heart was beating so fast, full with so much joy, that she really thought it might burst. The grin remained in place as she shakily lowered her hand to her phone. She bowed her head, trying to hide her expression from him as she came up beside Shigaraki. On some level, she knew she was wearing an unnatural yandere sort of grin, but it was impossible to make a neutral face now.

"Why are you so happy?" He glanced toward her and started absently chewing at the chapped skin of his lower lip.

She tried to hide her grin again, but unsuccessfully. _I don't want to say something embarrassing. If I tell him I'm this happy just because he called me his girl, I'll sound like such a loser! Why can't I calm down? It feels like I'm losing control of myself!_

Shadows fell over her as they neared the opening of the alley and they stretched behind her. Weaving back and forth like snakes over the ground. Creeping up the walls of the alley like tendrils. She took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm herself down so she could attempt to control her emotions again.

"I…like what you said," she finally muttered.

"What're you talking about?" Shigaraki's tone showed a little irritation as he turned his head so he could look at her. Seeing the maniacal fan girl grin on her face, he was completely undeterred. In fact, he seemed pleased by it.

In a moment of particularly girly shyness, Kugutsu played with a stray lock of hair that was hanging beside her face. "I mean…when you…c-called me your girl. It made me really happy." She stole a glance at him and saw him still watching her, wearing that grin that made her heart race. "I-I love you. I mean…I love you so much that it hurts sometimes! And it's really embarrassing to say that so-!"

Two fingers stroked along the curve of her left ear, earning a purr from his fan. "You love me. Of course you do. You're my fan. You love me more than anything else, don't you?" He saw her nod slightly and leaned down. "I never rewarded you, did I? I think I know what you want. I know my fan better than anyone else does."


	40. Chapter 40

NeonHorizon: Here's another **WARNING**. This has some mature stuff in it, but this time that does include some gore. Minimal gore, but still. Why is this chapter special? I like to make every tenth chapter extra special. Plus, I wrote this the week of Valentine's Day so it should be extra romantic (?) and I wanted to do better than chapter 38. Enjoy!

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The building seemed empty. The villains intended to move their base of operations to the abandoned building the next day so it was still peacefully quiet. Footsteps echoed through the desolate halls as he made his way through the structure. Stepping over scattered broken glass and wood splinters, navigating in low light.

She was somewhere in the building already. Waiting for him. Doubtlessly blushing as she thought about him, with her twisted little heart racing in anticipation. Kugutsu would probably cover her mouth when he made his appearance. He had noticed her trying to control her emotions better.

Reaching the stairs, he could smell something citrus-like and saw that the blood from the previous night's murders had been cleaned up. The bodies were gone. Shigaraki could only assume that this was her reason for wanting to leave early and meet up with him later.

They had managed to get Magne and Twice back to the base and Spinner had done his part by bringing Toga back. Of course, Dabi was still out wandering the streets like a crispy paper doll in the wind. Until he returned, he was a liability. He might be recognized by someone and if they saw him entering the bar, it was game over for the whole group.

_What did she call him? Crispy edgelord. That's what he is, isn't he? He thinks he's so much cooler than the rest of us. It makes me sick._ Shigaraki started scratching his neck as he reached the second floor landing.

There was a warm glow cast out into the hallway from the room they had used before. Despite his irritation with Dabi, he felt excitement. If the first time felt good, he was sure that this would be better. The first time was just to test her, but now he wanted more.

The villain paused in his steps when he heard the faint crinkle of plastic. Red eyes narrowed in the dim corridor and he tilted his head slightly to listen for any more sounds. The crinkling of plastic and a sort of wet squishing.

Out of curiosity, he continued forward a few more steps and caught the scent of blood. The closer he got to the doorway, the stronger the aroma became. The meaty, metallic smell of fresh blood.

Stopping just beyond the doorway, Shigaraki peered in. Kugutsu was there, but had her back to the doorway. She was sitting facing the far wall and seemed to be messing with something in plastic. He finally entered the room and crossed to where she was, dropping a hand to rest on the top of her head while keeping his little finger raised. Leaning down, Shigaraki saw what she had.

Kugutsu had a small sheet of plastic on the floor in front of her and at its center was a bloody, freshly removed human heart. The ribbon in her hands suggested that she had been trying to wrap the organ like a gift. She looked up at him and blushed pink before darting her gaze away. "Y-you're early."

"What is that?"

"It…it was supposed to be a present. I mean…you remember that guy that bumped into you on the street today?"

**Shift P.O.V**

She was desperate to make him happy. To prove herself to him. To show him how much she loved him. That was why she had to make the new base clean. That was why she had to hunt down the guy that dared to bump her crush and forcibly remove the man's heart using a blade made of shadows. She just wished she had more time to wrap the gift; Kugutsu was sure Shigaraki would be more impressed.

The expression he wore was not exactly what one might consider impressed. It was more like a mixture of satisfied, relieved, and also a little disgusted. Normal reactions to being gifted a human heart in plastic wrap. However, instead of a word of thanks, he immediately changed the subject. "Stop playing with that. I want you to get ready like yesterday."

The pink shade of her cheeks darkened to red and Kugutsu put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. _I probably look like a freak, smiling like this! Why can't I just stay calm?! But my heart…is beating too fast! I can't keep calm when he wants something like that!_

Kugutsu gave a small nod of agreement. Just thinking about the previous night filled her with extreme fan girl excitement. She felt that odd, fluttery sensation rush through her as she pulled off her hoodie. The shorts were discarded next and she paused, hands gripping the hem of her shirt. _Should I…? Does he want me to take this off, too?_

"Why are you taking so long? I thought you were excited for this."

She tensed and nodded again. "I-I _am_! I'm just…I don't know if you want-"

"I want you to hurry up. You're making me wait."

"Okay…" Kugutsu took a deep breath to try to keep herself calm and pulled off her shirt. She was pretty self-conscious. After all, she had never actually done this in front of him. She had done it for past boyfriends, but never Shigaraki. She was afraid he would be disappointed.

Her pulse was pounding as she turned to face him, her pointed ears flattened in embarrassment. Kugutsu's cat-yellow eyes lifted to look at him through stray locks of dark hair that fell over her face. _He…looks so cool. He always looks cool. Why is someone as amazing as him even giving me the time of day?_

Of course, Shigaraki was still basically fully dressed. He was a powerful villain. There was no reason for him to have to take stuff off. He had already applied his protection and seemed a little surprised that she had taken off her shirt. His gaze dropped to the black bra she was wearing and it took a moment for him to register that the weird little red pattern on it was supposed to be cat paws.

The villain's chapped lips drew into a satisfied grin and he closed the distance between them, pressing her back against the wall. Three fingertips trailed along her side, following the curve of her hip and then moving upwards. Those sharp red eyes focused briefly on her pale chest before lifting to meet her stare. Observing how her face seemed to get even redder as his fingertips skimmed up her ribs and along the side of her chest.

Kugutsu's breathing hitched the second he touched her and now she was struggling to not close her eyes to just focus on it. Everywhere that his fingertips made contact with her skin, it felt like it caused waves of heat. She felt it rushing through her and settling as a ball of tension in her lower abdomen. The girl subconsciously pressed her legs closer together.

Her hands hesitantly went to the hem of his hoodie and she felt him jolt at the touch. She forced herself to push onward and gently slid her hands beneath the dark fabric, easing beneath the shirt under it. Her fingertips came into contact with warm, but kind of dry, skin. Kugutsu could feel that he was slender underneath the layers he was wearing, but toned. The feeling of his skin against hers made her bite her lip.

His other hand moved between them and two fingers rubbed at her most sensitive spot, making her subconsciously part her legs a bit. Shigaraki applied just a little more pressure until he heard her gasp and his grin spread wider. Hearing his fan make that kind of noise because he was touching her seemed to bring him immense satisfaction. He ran his fingertips along the area, testing her reaction, and was pleased to feel her press forward against his two fingers.

Kugutsu bowed her head, biting her lip harder to try to stifle any sounds. She felt him rubbing at that sensitive area and was embarrassed that she was moving her hips forward to get more of his touch. Beneath her own fingertips, she could feel his heart beating rapidly. She ran her fingers along his chest, feeling every bit of his skin and trying to picture what it looked like. She was not about to just rip his hoodie off of him like some kind of rabid animal.

She jumped a little when she felt him push the fabric barrier aside and lifted her head a bit. The girl made direct eye contact with her idol and saw the grin on his face. Her flustered fan girl heart skipped a beat as she felt his bare fingertips brush over her warm skin. Something about the mix of pleasure and the horrible danger this was putting her in made her even more excited.

Before Kugutsu could even question Shigaraki's next move, she felt two digits slide into her. The cat-earred villain's hips snapped forward and she released a soft moan. She felt them slide in and out a few times, all while her heart raced and her thoughts became fuzzy with excitement. Without thinking, her right hand dropped down from his chest and she ran her fingertips along something sensitive of his.

Shigaraki released a sharp hiss and lowered his gaze to where her warm fingers were making contact with him through the protection. He watched her move along a few times, in time with what he was doing with her, and soon he had enough. His hand drew away and he stared into the other villain's eyes for a moment before making his next move.

Last time, they had done it on the futon in a very particular way that he seemed to have planned. Almost like he did research. Almost like he had never done it before in his life and had decided to research it as if this was a game he wanted to win. This time was different.

Instead of taking her over to the futon on the floor, he grabbed her left leg and pulled it up to rest on his hip. His right hand was used to line himself up. Thankfully, Kugutsu had been excited enough by his touch that it made it easy for him to enter. One push forward and he was surrounded by the other villain's heat.

Her back arched, pushing her chest against his. He bit back a growl as he brought a hand up to grab the back of her neck, keeping a finger lifted. Shigaraki pressed her face into the space between his neck and shoulder before he started moving. It effectively muffled her sounds and the sensation of her breath on his skin seemed to elevate the pleasure he was feeling.

Kugutsu, being the crazed fan that she was, actually felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Being this close, this intimate, with the guy she was obsessed with was almost too much for her evil little heart to handle. Her arms were kind of in an awkward position, though. Her hands were on his chest, beneath his hoodie, so her arms were sort of pinned between them.

The feeling of warm, dry skin. The intense beating of his heart under her fingertips. The way his hips rocked into hers, pushing into her and once again claiming his fan. Her other leg was threatening to buckle, but she managed to keep herself upright. Eyes closing, tears slipping down her cheeks as her love for Shigaraki seemed to overflow.

Each time he moved forward, it struck something deep in Kugutsu. It caused that ball of tension in her lower abdomen to start to pulse and tighten. Little by little, she felt herself being pushed toward the edge. She felt the villain's length slide almost out of her completely and then back in, sharply. It caused her to cry out his name, half-surprised and half-euphoric. He seemed to like it and repeated the action again and again, trying to see how loudly he could get her to say his name.

Kugutsu felt lips brush the edge of her left ear, warm breath skimming over the curve. She felt herself coming undone around him and threw her head back, this time releasing his name in a mix between a moan and a scream. There was a slight twitch of his lips and the villain's pace quickened. She was more sensitive than before and it was quickly pushing her toward the edge again.

He moved back enough to let her arms get free and was pleased to find them wrapping around his neck. Shigaraki could hear her whimper his name quietly, her mouth near his ear. It made his grin spread more. It made his heart beat even faster and fueled his confidence. The hand that had been carefully gripping her leg to keep her in place was now roaming up her chest. Three fingertips moving to memorize every centimeter of pale skin that she had bared to him.

Her breathing became more uneven as she came undone again, but this time was different. His hips pushed forward as much as possible and she felt the grip on the back of her neck tighten. She could feel his whole body seem to tense up as he reached his own edge. Kugutsu nuzzled her cheek against the side of his neck, purring in complete satisfaction. "I…I love you," she whispered.

Shigaraki was silent for a long moment. There was a quiet grumble, but it was hard to tell what exactly he said. Three fingers stroked along the back of her neck as he basked in the afterglow for a moment longer. When he finally withdrew, he leaned his head against the wall beside her and smirked.

"I bet All Might doesn't have fans as dedicated as you are. Look at you. You'd let me do this as many times as I'd want, wouldn't you? I bet you want me to put it back in already. I've got such a loyal, needy fan." He stared down at her, his chapped lips bleeding slightly from cracking open. "You look like you have something to say. Spit it out before I lose my good mood."

Her ears perked forward and she flushed red. "Um…can we sleep together tonight?" She saw him take on a somewhat confused look. "I-I mean, it's normal, right? For people to sleep together after they…sleep together."

He looked to the bloody heart she had gotten him as a gift and, for whatever reason, that seemed to help convince him. "Fine. My fan wants to sleep next to me. I can give you that."

She felt a fresh burst of excitement and grinned. Before she could stop herself, she was holding him tightly in a hug. "You're…really the best, Shigaraki!"


	41. Chapter 41

NeonHorizon: This is a shout out to everyone that leaves reviews/expresses their enjoyment with this story! It's very appreciated!

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_We need to look inconspicuous…so you decided to wear that?_ Kugutsu's eyes roamed up and down her friend for a second, her brain trying to follow whatever wild thought process had led him to decide that this was the right choice. The point was to blend in, but it seemed like Spinner had failed to consider that.

If he had just put on the UA school uniform like she told him, it might be alright. He might just look like a high school student from general studies with too bland of a personality for anyone to remember him. That was not the case here.

Whatever insane line of thought he had somehow led him to determine that wearing a hooded sweatshirt under the blazer was a great idea. It was only the height of summer. Surely no one would look twice at some weirdo trudging around the streets in a hooded sweatshirt under a blazer when the weather was hot enough to make any sane person stick to air conditioning.

To make matters worse, he was wearing that weird choker that matched hers. At least he had taken off all of his Stain cosplay. He still looked extremely suspicious, though. His hood pulled up, hands in his pockets. Constantly glancing around.

"…just calm down…" Kugutsu muttered. She moved closer to his side, keeping her face expressionless. The school uniform she was wearing felt awkward. The hat she had put on to hide her ears was hot and pushed her ears into an uncomfortable position. Honestly, she just wanted to finish getting supplies and hurry back to the new base.

"How can I stay calm?! You know they're still looking for that kid!" He frowned within the shadow of his hood and tried to lower his eyes to focus on something other than the people passing them. "How are _you_ so calm?"

"It's called being a professional. I've had years of practice."

"How many years?"

"I've…been practicing this face since I was twelve. The trick is to think of something that comforts you and just focus on that." She hooked her arm through his, guiding him through a crowded section of the shopping center and flashing a fake smile when someone looked at them for a little too long. Thankfully, that person smiled back as if they were admiring her and then turned away.

"So what do you think about?"

"What?"

"I mean, like, what comforts you? Do you think about Shi-?"

"I think about the first dating simulator I ever played. In middle school…I saved up my allowance and ran errands for a shop owner so I could buy a dating simulator. The music, the graphics, the character design, the voice acting…all of it was amazing for back then. It made me really happy and I'd always play it when I had a bad day or if I was stressed out. So when I need to calm myself down and I'm having trouble, I just think about that game."

"Oh! That's actually pretty cool!"

Kugutsu was biting the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. She knew that if she thought about Shigaraki, it would have the opposite effect. Her heart would start racing, adrenaline would start pumping through her veins, that weird tingly feeling would probably show up again. Thinking about Shigaraki made her too excited and it took actual effort to keep herself from constantly thinking about him now.

Her free hand lifted and she almost tried to ruffle her hair, but managed to stop herself before she could touch her hat. Shaking her head, she tried to push away thoughts of Shigaraki so she could calm down again. "Why are you wearing that hoodie anyway? You'll overheat."

"I'm fine!" Spinner tried to look tough, but he was clearly bothered. "Why? Does it look weird? Dabi said it was a good idea."

"Dabi is a walking dumpster fire! Why the hell would you-?!" She bit her lower lip and bowed her head, the girl's cat-yellow eyes narrowing. Her arm slipped a little and her hand rested on his arm, nails digging in through his shirt, hoodie, and blazer sleeve. "He's…an _idiot_. Why would you take advice from him?"

"You guys really don't get along."

"...my parents taught me not to play with _trash_…"

Out of everyone in the League of Villains, Kugutsu and Spinner were probably the worst choices for this job. They were completely aware of this fact. Spinner was a tall guy with green scales and when it came to the female villain, he would go along with whatever she wanted to do. Kugutsu was a maniac with cat ears and trouble controlling her emotions and, by extension, her quirk. These two were the absolute worst choices for this job.

_Okay. Maybe we're not the absolute worst. That crispy creep Dabi would be the worst. That idiot. Piece of burnable garbage. Charred ragdoll. Twisted…purple splotch…nightmare-fuel…ugh! Whatever! He isn't here! Shigaraki picked me and let me bring Spinner so what does that say? I'm way more important than that patchwork piece of shit!_

"Yami, your phone keeps ringing."

"Ah! Not again. Tell me it's not-" She looked at her phone, panic making her heart race. If she missed another call from All for One, she would throw herself in a river because there was no way she could live down missing his call again. Instead of an unknown number, she saw Giran's name come up on the screen.

Kugutsu felt a flicker of relief before anger set in. When she answered the call, it took all of her willpower to not scream at her former boss. "You're just now checking in to make sure I'm alive?!" she hissed.

The two villains had moved away from the more popular parts of the shopping center and were hanging around some vending machines. Spinner was looking at a selection of drinks, trying to figure out what Kugutsu might want since she was now completely focused at throwing rage Giran's way.

"Hey, I have confidence in you. I knew you wouldn't get yourself killed," Giran tried to explain. "So everything's going well, right? I heard you guys relocated."

"Yes. We found a new location." Kugutsu managed to calm herself down enough to speak to him like an actual sane professional. She walked over to where Spinner was still looking at drinks and tapped an obsidian nail against the selection for a citrus-flavored soft drink. The reptilian villain's eyes widened and he grinned, nodding. He put in enough money for two cans.

"So I've got a serious question. You didn't fuck Shigaraki, did you?"

It felt like all of the blood in her body was rushing to her face. She had the sudden urge to throw her phone against the wall as hard as she could, to smash it into little pieces beneath her shoe. Kugutsu had the overwhelming desire to just burrow deep into the ground and never come out into the light of day again.

"Th-that's none of your business! Why would you say s-something like that?! Are you out of your mind? You can't just s-say stuff like that to someone! That's…that's really unprofessional and-!"

"Got it. Okay, so try to keep that under wraps, Kugutsu-chan. I don't think the big boss would wanna hear that you were doing that with his protégé." There was a click of a lighter and the sound of Giran exhaling shortly after.

"But I didn't-!"

"You know, you're lousy at hiding your emotions when it comes to him." The broker chuckled and was probably shaking his head. "I'm serious, though. Don't let anyone know about that. And you're using protection, right? I don't even wanna think about what kind of crazy quirk you'd make if you guys had-"

"J-just shut up already! I told you I didn't do that so just believe me and stop talking!" Kugutsu hissed this through gritted teeth, trying to keep her voice down so she could avoid looking like a lunatic in the middle of this public place. _How cringey is it to have your boss try to give you the talk?! And how does he even know that we did something?_

"Right. So are you busy right now?"

"Yami." Spinner held the can of soda out to her, his head slightly tilted in confusion since he was only hearing half of the conversation. To him, she just looked like she might have legitimately snapped and be planning to gut Giran alive.

Kugutsu took the drink from him with a small nod of gratitude._ Right. Spinner's here. I don't want to look crazy. I just…need to calm down._ She carefully moved her phone a little and opened the soda. "We're getting supplies. Why?"

"We? Who's with you?"

"I'm with Spinner."

"Oh." There was a hint of disappointment in Giran's voice. "I've got a job for you. It's nothing big; you can probably get this knocked out in about ten minutes. It's a retrieval job. Someone thought they could swipe some files off my desk while they were in the office. If I send you the address, you think you can track them down and get the files back? They're pretty important."

"…am I getting paid…?"

"Of course. I'll send you the address. Just get the files and bring them back to my office."

Kugutsu looked at the address he sent and had some idea of where it was. A glance over showed Spinner looking curiously at the screen as well. "I need to run an errand for Giran," she started.

"I can help."

"No. Honestly…this isn't something you'll want to do." After all, Spinner was a Stain fan boy. She was pretty sure Stain, with all of his high and mighty morals, would frown upon going into a bar and slaughtering everyone in it just to retrieve some mystery files for a shady guy like Giran.

"So what am I supposed to?"

"Get the supplies and go back to the hideout."

"If we split up, it's more dangerous," he pointed out.

Kugutsu crossed her arms and gave a nod. "Okay…I don't want to take the supplies with me so we'll have to circle back here when I'm done. You're going to have to wait outside while I work."

"That's fine!" If anything, he now seemed excited. Like a fan boy eager to see his favorite idol on stage. Or a shut-in who was about to watch a girl he liked fight a bunch of people. That was a much more accurate description.

**Shift P.O.V**

The League of Villains had moved to their new hideout. The hideout that Shigaraki had found on his own and selected for them. Of course, since this was an abandoned building, it was missing some things. For starters, there was no electricity. No running water. No air conditioning.

The summer heat was making everyone miserable already and there were a lot of complaints, but they fell on apathetic ears. Staying at the mahjong bar was out of the question. Especially with Dabi continuously using the front door to enter and exit. A man like him, covered in scars and staples as well as dressed like some kind of cringey villain from a children's show, was bound to draw attention.

The blood had been cleaned up in the stairwell, but the human heart and plastic wrap had been left behind in the room on the second floor. When Magne came across it and asked questions, she was ignored and Shigaraki simply grabbed the heart with all five fingers. It was now just a pile of dust on the floor, about two feet away from where he was sitting.

A hand lifted, fingers absently scratching at his neck as he wondered how long it would take for Kugutsu and Spinner to get supplies. He was becoming irritated with the thought of them hanging out together. It was like letting someone borrow your game controller and then having to watch them touch it with their disgusting, soda-sticky fingers. Gross enough to make your stomach turn.

Sending Kugutsu was a good idea. She was his loyal fan so she was bound to do a good job. Not to mention that he knew she was competent. It was when she requested Spinner to help her that Shigaraki started to have his doubts. Spinner was far from inconspicuous and he looked at Kugutsu the way she looked at Shigaraki. Like a doting fan. It made the blue-haired villain feel kind of sick.

"Want me to go after them?"

Blood-colored eyes raised from the wooden floor and Shigaraki started chewing at his lip in irritation. Dabi was leaning against the doorframe, not quite appearing smug, but just giving off the aura of an arrogant fool. "You think you can do a better job? I'm only letting two people out at a time. If you don't like it, you can leave the League."

He pushed himself to stand and stalked past Dabi, out of the room. Moving out into the hallway, he walked at a leisurely pace. Anything to get out of the stagnant heat of that one room. His room. His and his fan girl's special room.

Since the first time, he could feel his confidence steadily growing. It had helped him a lot when he was moving the group from the bar to their new hideout. They listened to him instead of wandering off and doing their own thing. They even obeyed when he told everyone else to stay in the hideout while his fan and her fan went for supplies.

Now Shigaraki needed to determine his next move. They had their new member and he was actually cooperating now. They had a new hideout. He had better control over his followers. As he pondered his next move, darkness abruptly fell over the entire building and the street outside. Then the screams began.


	42. Chapter 42

It took some convincing to make Spinner wait outside, but she knew that bringing him in with her would be a huge mistake. He claimed to follow Stain's weird code of ethics so if he went in and she started killing people unprovoked, she was sure he would ruin her fun. It had been a while since she really got to let loose so she was actually looking forward to the confrontation ahead of her.

Inside the bar, it was basically what she had expected. A group of guys that were trying to look tough. Sitting around in a dimly lit bar, drinking, smoking, and laughing when she stepped into the bar. As soon as the door closed behind her, someone stepped in front of it to block her from leaving.

Kugutsu's heart started to race with excitement, but she maintained a calm expression as she regarded the men around her. _There's a lot of them_, she started to realize. _If I make too much of a mess, I'll get blood stains on this UA uniform and I don't have a spare one. This is the only disguise I've got right now._

"Well, well. Look, everyone. Giran decided to send his little errand girl after us," one of the men taunted.

Another one started toward her, smirking and cracking his knuckles. "You know what I heard? I heard a rumor you quit being his assistant and became a call girl. Is that what that uniform's about? Is that guy outside a client of yours and he's just into weird roleplay or something?"

Her hands curled into fists and she let her nails sink into her palms as she considered her next move. The idea of sending up shadow spikes to ward everyone away from her was a good one and she prepared to do that when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The person gripped tightly and jerked her backwards toward them, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"You know what _I_ heard? _I_ heard the yakuza's got a price on her head for maiming their boss. A guy I know said she messed him up pretty bad. He was able to fix it himself, but he's probably pissed off at her. How much do you think she's worth _dead_?" The guy behind her pressed a knife against Kugutsu's neck, his hold on her shoulder so tight it would bruise.

Beneath her hat, the girl's ears were flat with rage. A growl was forming at the back of her throat and she was using every ounce of self-control to keep herself from using her quirk to shred these men into ribbons. Blood would get everywhere and she wanted to preserve her disguise. She knew from experience just how messy it could get to eviscerate a human being.

"What about the guy outside?"

"What's _he_ gonna do? He's out _there_. If he comes in, we'll just take care of him, too."

She bristled when they mentioned killing Spinner and her eyes narrowed. "Don't touch him. He's not part of this."

"Oh, _now_ she talks!" A hand planted on the top of her head, pushing her hat down onto her ears more and actually causing her some pain. "What? Is that your favorite client or something?"

"Hey, I saw her hanging around some _other_ guy in the shopping center. Some crusty-looking guy with blue hair that looked like he'd never heard of lotion!"

Kugutsu could handle them threatening her life. She could keep her rage contained when they threatened to kill Spinner, too. When they brought up Shigaraki, that was what made her finally snap. Glaring up at the man in front of her, the girl's lips slowly drew back and exposed her teeth in a menacing snarl.

"Oh, I know the one you're talking about! That guy that looks like he hasn't showered in a week, right? With the scars around his mouth! A dude like that _would_ have to pay a girl to hang out with him, wouldn't he?"

The man in front of her chuckled and leaned down toward her. "Hey, what's your rate? How about-?" Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as a narrow shadow spike impaled him through the chest. He stared down at it curiously before three more punched through his midsection. All four violently pulled away from each other, tearing his chest open and splattering the floor with blood and meat.

Dark spikes rose from the ground around her feet, wavering in the air as they went from solid to almost liquid-like. Kugutsu's hands dripped with her own blood from where her nails had torn into her palms and she closed her eyes. She thought of the dating simulator from her youth, but it did nothing to calm her down. Shigaraki had been insulted and that was beyond unforgivable.

The other men were running from the bar now, one of the taking with them the file that Giran had actually sent her to retrieve. Kugutsu spared no time walking out of the bar, bringing the shadows with her. They stretched and spread out, claiming more shadows from buildings outside and people walking past. Even Spinner's shadow was pulled to join the growing mass of darkness on the ground around Kugutsu's boots.

"Yami, what happened in there?! Your neck is bleeding!" The reptilian villain glanced down at the weaving, dancing shadows and still pushed himself to approach her. He saw that there was a cut on her neck, but she seemed to have not noticed.

She stared after the fleeing men, her pulse so fast and hard that she could feel it in her ears. It drowned out all other sound as she focused on what they had said about her idol. Calling him "crusty". Insulting him. Saying he had to pay a girl to spend time with him.

Her rage became too much for her to contain and Kugutsu reached out toward the fleeing group. Her intention was to use her shadows to make a long tendril big enough to gather all of them and drag them back to her. From there, she would make spikes along the tendril to pierce into their torsos and destroy their organs. That was what she wanted to happen.

What actually happened was pretty different and even more horrifying. The shadows did stretch forward, but they began touching more shadows and even more. The shadows began to bubble and grow massive, forming into a sheet almost. Powered by her rage and fueled by each little shadow they managed to snag, they were growing out of control. Seconds later, the neighborhood was in darkness.

Her shadows were still acting on behalf of her own fury so the spikes began forming and, to her absolute delight, she heard people screaming along the street. Civilians. Housewives that were out shopping. Businessmen that were on their lunch break. Those pieces of trash that had insulted the love of her life.

Kugutsu stared wide-eyed into the darkness before her as a warmth ran down the front of her neck. Her free hand lifted to it, trembling, and her fingertips came away red. _Blood…? That jerk that was behind me. He must have cut me when I killed his friend._

"Yami, we need to go! Come on!" Spinner grabbed her hand through the ring of shadows around her and pulled her free. His eyes widened when he saw the darkness seem to spread further through the neighborhood like a wave. "What is that?! Yami, your quirk-! Call it back! Make it disappear!"

"I don't know how," she admitted, staring at the massive curtain of shadow that was falling over the area. Block by block, building by building. Civilians were running and screaming. Her mouth twitched at the corners before spreading into a wide grin. Blood rushed to her face as she stared at the masterpiece. The thing born from her desire to defend Shigaraki. The symbol of her love for him.

It was difficult for her to turn away. Physically and mentally difficult. Her body suddenly felt heavy. Her eyes wanted to close, her knees started to shake. It was then that it dawned on her that this symbol of her love was draining her stamina. However, she desperately wanted him to see it. _I need to make it bigger!_

**Shift P.O.V**

"What's going on?! Is it a solar eclipse?" Magne's voice cut through the darkness, rising above the screams of terror outside.

It was too dark to see anything, but Shigaraki could hear running footsteps. They were followed by a thud as someone crashed into something. Twice loudly exclaimed over running into the wall and then scolded himself for not seeing it. Toga's voice came from that direction as well, questioning what was happening. Footsteps to the left indicated he was approached by someone, who then had the audacity to reach out and put their fingertips on his shoulder.

"Who's this?"

"Don't touch me."

"Oh! My apologies, Shigaraki!" Compress pulled his hand away and stayed where he was. "What do you suppose this is? Do you think it could be a hero? Have we been found already?"

"What kind of hero would do something like this?" Shigaraki challenged him, scratching at his neck. He turned his head, trying to find some source of light even if it was small. Even the open windows were dark as night. Now a coldness was starting to settle over the building.

He felt a faint tug at the back of his shirt and scowled. "What do you want? What do you expect me to do about this? We have lanterns. Why don't one of you make yourselves useful and-?"

"Lanterns? That's…stupid."

There was a burst of light behind Shigaraki, lighting up the villain's silhouette and nearly blinding the other villains down the hallway. With the light came a wave of heat that made Shigaraki start to sweat and he turned to glare at Dabi over his shoulder. The others all began to approach like moths to an actual flame.

_They're so easily impressed. This is probably the only time he can really make himself useful with that quirk. I guess I should let him enjoy it while the moment lasts. When this is over, he'll just go back to being burnable trash._ Realizing that he was yet again referring to Dabi in a way that Kugutsu would, he bit his lip.

People were still screaming outside in the darkness. Screams of pain. Screams of terror. Doubtless, there would be a few dead bodies out there when this was all over. At least the League was safe inside their new hideout. Well, the members that were actually there.

He tucked himself into a doorway, away from the others, and checked his phone. No calls from Kugutsu or Spinner. No correspondence whatsoever. Pulling up the app to track the girl's phone, he was irritated to find himself relieved to see her moving. It was when he saw her location that his eyes narrowed.

His fan girl was just a few blocks away and she was moving further away from the base. Shigaraki looked outside at the intense darkness and then back to his phone as realization hit him. The chaos taking place outside was Kugutsu's quirk. He turned toward the other villains, focusing his glare on Kurogiri.

**Shift P.O.V**

"Yami, wait! What're you doing?!" Spinner was able to keep up with her as she ran, but he was looking over his shoulder in a panic as the shadows spread wider.

"I want him to see it! Shigaraki has to see what I did for him!" She giggled as the excitement became too much to keep bottled up any more. The girl's giggling only grew more intense when she imagined her idol marveling at the sheet of darkness. Imagined him patting her on the head and telling her how much he liked this display of her love and devotion.

Beside her, Spinner was gritting his teeth and trying to decide what he should do now. He had never seen her act like this before. He was definitely impressed by her quirk's power, but he was also terrified at the same time.

_When he sees it…he's going to love me even more! How can he not?! This darkness is a manifestation of my love! It's all for him!_ Kugutsu paused in her steps, panting and grinning like a maniac. She turned to look at her beautiful creation, listening to the cries of terror that rang out from within the darkness.

Holding her arms out at her sides, she almost felt like she could cry. She had never felt so powerful and so weak at the same time. It honestly felt like her knees would buckle at any second. Tears of fatigue were rolling down her face and dotted the shadowy links that kept her tethered to her creation. She was so happy, but it felt like the life was slowly being drained from her.

"Heh…heheheh…ahahahaha! He's going to…love it so much! You'll see! This is…so…" Kugutsu tumbled forward onto the cement, her strength gone. Her scarred cheek made a hard impact with the ground, sending a burst of pain through her face. Her fingers weakly pressed at the surface beneath her as she tried to push herself up, but her body was too weak to keep her up for long.

"Yami?! Hold on! I'll carry you back so just-!" Spinner had started to crouch down, but froze and stared at something on her other side.

The girl weakly managed to turn her head and her eyes went wide. The sole of a red shoe rested on top of her left hand, pressing just enough to serve as a warning to not move. Kugutsu's pulse skipped as she stared up and into the blood-colored eyes of her idol.

"What're you doing out here? I sent you two to get supplies and instead of bringing back something useful, you brought _this_." His nails dragged along his neck and he looked to where the shadows were receding and then breaking apart. "Looks like it's over. You drew too much attention. What if you led a hero to us?"

"I…I didn't consider it," Kugutsu admitted.

He grumbled quietly and looked to Spinner, realizing there was no choice. Either the reptilian villain would carry her or he would be forced to do manual labor. "We can worry about supplies later. Now we've got to hide for a while." He turned away and lifted his shoe from her hand. "I bet you didn't think there'd be consequences since you're my fan. I wonder what I should do with you."


	43. Chapter 43

Kugutsu's last memory was of Shigaraki turning away from her. She was waking up on the cold, hard floor of a dark room and winced at the stiffness in her joints. Pushing herself up was a struggle, but she was soon sitting upright and became aware of something around her neck. When she lifted her hand, her fingers came into contact with what seemed to be a haphazardly wrapped bandage that was a little crusty with what was probably dried blood.

The girl ruffled her hair anxiously and realized that her hat was gone. It also felt like the UA uniform skirt had been replaced with her villain costume's shorts. Instead of the UA blazer and blouse, she was wearing a sweatshirt that was a little too big for her.

Her face lit up with a blush as she sank a little into the sweatshirt, sniffing at the material. Her weird fan girl heart started racing as she recognized that this was her crush's sweatshirt. This reminded her of the insane display she had made in the neighborhood using her quirk and her ears folded back.

_It's really weird. I know I was supposed to get that file for Giran and I remember going to the bar. I remember those jerks making fun of Shigaraki and I got really pissed off. I sort of remember the rest, but it's fuzzy. It feels like I was just watching someone else do it. Why did I do something so dumb? If a hero found the hideout…_

She curled up in a ball, arms wrapped around her legs in the darkness and her nails lightly digging into her knees. "So _stupid_…" she mumbled to herself.

"You had the nerve to sleep for three days and the first thing you do when you wake up is start talking to yourself?"

Kugutsu's ears twitched forward and she tensed. Suddenly, she became very aware of the intense stare being directed at her. Of course, it made sense he could probably see her. He was accustomed to low-light since his room at the bar, and the bar itself, had been kind of dimly lit. Not to mention that Kugutsu had no idea how long he might have been in the dark room with her.

She turned her head slowly, trying to see in the darkness. Her eyes were still adjusting so it was difficult to make out any shapes. When she finally noticed the shape of her crush sitting against the wall just a few feet away, she jolted. "Shigaraki? I was…I was asleep for three days?"

There was a quiet scratching sound, followed by the villain grumbling. "You passed out before Spinner even picked you up. Kurogiri said you overused your quirk. I didn't even know you could do that and you used it doing something that stupid."

The girl lowered her head, her eyes half-closing. "I-I'm sorry." She ruffled her hair again, hating that her heart was beating so fast. Hating that she had let him down. "I didn't know I could do it, either. I've never spread my quirk that far before. When I try to think about it, I don't even feel like it was something I did. It feels like something that I watched happen. I don't know why-"

"You didn't know," he muttered, sounding more like he was talking himself for a moment. "My girl didn't know she could do something that cool. Why didn't you try to do it before?"

_He…thought it was cool?_ Kugutsu's heart skipped a beat and she smiled in the darkness, but kept her head down to hide it. "I don't know."

The two villains sat in silence for a long while after that. Kugutsu was now able to make out the dark rectangle that was the door to the room. Beyond it, she could hear someone snoring in the distance. _What time is it? Why's Shigaraki awake while everyone else is asleep?_

"Come here." He beckoned with a finger, his head tilting and pale hair falling over his right eye as he stared at her through the darkness.

Excitement rushed through her veins, but Kugutsu managed to keep herself from releasing an embarrassing fan girl squeal. She crawled toward him, hoping he was unable to see how freakishly bright red her face probably was. Her head was still sort of down so when she abruptly bumped into his chest, she jumped a little.

Before she could lean back to apologize, a hand pressed at her back with only three fingers and his palm making contact. His other hand lifted and two fingers moved along the back of her left ear. Purring erupted from Kugutsu and she subconsciously nuzzled her face into the side of his neck.

_I don't deserve this. Not after putting everyone in danger. This…feels too good! _Her hip bumped something and her eyes widened. Kugutsu's breathing grew unsteady when she realized she was more or less kneeling on the floor between her crush's legs. _Calm down! Damn it! Why is my heart beating this fast?!_

"What made your quirk spread out like that? You said you'd never done it before so something triggered it. What was it?" Shigaraki's tone was slightly demanding, but he was obviously genuinely curious.

Closing her eyes, she felt his fingers move to stroke her other pointed feline ear. His neck felt warm beneath her cheek and she felt a giddy sort of feeling bubbling up. "Giran…sent me to get a file someone stole," she started. "I went into the bar alone and…the guys there…"

The next part was embarrassing. It made her sound like some sort of rabid fan and she was completely aware of it. However, there was no getting around this if she wanted to truthfully explain herself and she hated the idea of lying to him. "They made fun of you…so I wanted to tear them apart," Kugutsu admitted.

The hand on her back pressed harder, bringing her tighter against him. His knees dug into her hips as he held her. "You were trying to defend me. My loyal fan girl went through so much trouble trying to defend me. I thought you were just playing with someone, but you were doing something for your idol."

"I-I love you! I did it…out of _love_! I couldn't let them talk about you that way! I wanted to tear them apart into little pieces and smear their blood on the walls of that bar! But…I think I…went a little crazy. I'm sorry. I put everyone in danger-"

"Twice ran into a wall."

Kugutsu bit her lip, a little thrown off by this abrupt and almost comical interruption. Of course, she could easily imagine Twice running face-first into a wall when the darkness spread over the hideout. She could also imagine him shouting at the wall, but she had to try to force that thought away to keep herself from giggling like a lunatic in front of Shigaraki.

"…I'll apologize to him…" It was taking a ridiculous amount of self-control to not laugh. _Come on! Be serious! Stay calm! He's going to think you're even crazier than he probably already thinks you are!_

"Don't." Shigaraki moved a little, settling more comfortably against the wall. He shifted both hands so one was gripping her shoulder, with a finger elevated for safety, and the other was at his side. The girl was pushed away from him a little, letting his blood-red eyes narrow on Kugutsu's face for a moment. Soon his gaze drifted downwards to the bandaging on her neck.

It was pretty obvious that he was wondering about how her neck had been cut. In her crazed moment in the bar when she had killed the guy that started making fun of Shigaraki, she had failed to notice the man behind her slicing into her neck with a knife. It was shallow enough to not cause too much damage, but there was still dried blood on the bandaging.

He chewed on his lower lip as he leaned down a little, bringing his face closer to the bandages. A fingertip slipped beneath the hem and he tugged gently. The strip of gauze that had been sloppily wrapped her neck instantly came loose. "You're a ranged fighter. You don't even have to get close to use your quirk on someone. You're too reckless."

_Is he...worried about me?_ She felt her heart beating faster again and the girl shakily lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. Kugutsu wanted to hug him more than anything, but the villain's grip on her shoulder was firm and he kept her at a distance. Unfortunately, this meant she had a good view of his face.

His eyes were focused on her neck wound, his scarred and dry lips twisted into a deep scowl. Shigaraki usually looked kind of tired, but there was a different level of exhaustion reflected in his eyes. When he caught her staring, he lifted his eyes to meet her cat-yellow ones and those chapped lips lifted at one corner.

"I want you to make it up to me. You did something that reckless. You owe me for putting me through so much trouble. So I want you to think about what you can do to make it up to me. And you'd better make it something good. You're such a loyal fan, you should know what I want."

Kugutsu gave a small nod, knowing exactly what he meant. _Games. He wants games since we don't have a computer here. I need to get him some games for his console._ She frowned when he released her completely and moved to stand. For an instant, she wondered if he meant something else since they were suddenly in the perfect position for that, but then he moved around her.

"Come here." The call came from behind Kugutsu and it was joined with the soft sound of an impact.

She turned and crawled across the floor, jumping a bit when her fingertips bumped the edge of something soft. Relief washed over her when she realized that it was the futon. Her blush returned, her crazed fan girl heart skipping a beat, when she realized what room this was. "Shigaraki?"

A hand gripped the front of her sweatshirt and the female villain was dragged forward onto the futon. Her crush moved her onto her side so she faced him and he stared at her from where he was lying beside her, sharing the same pillow. One hand lifted and absently messed with one of her cat ears, making sure he kept a finger extended away from her.

He was silent. Just watching her like a cat staring at its favorite toy, pondering if it should play with it, hide it away somewhere, or leave it alone for the time being. Whatever he was thinking, it seemed like it started to bother him. He was chewing at his lower lip, his eyes narrowing.

It was bold. She knew it was bold. Kugutsu just wanted him to feel a fraction of how good she felt when she was with him. Closing her eyes tightly, fearing rejection, the girl gently ran her fingers through his pale blue hair. She heard a quiet grumble, but no demands for her to stop or even a question of why she was doing it.

Her heart was pounding, but she moved a little bit closer to him and continued to trail her fingers through his hair. The hand that had been messing with her ear stopped. Kugutsu opened one eye half-way and saw that both of his eyes were closed. The villain had dozed off while she was playing with his hair. It made her feel a rush of pride as well as confusion. She had always thought he hated being touched unless he gave permission first.

In typical obsessive fan girl fashion, Kugutsu spent a good portion of the night watching Shigaraki sleep. Grinning gleefully, wishing she could take a picture of him for her phone's wallpaper. She had slept for three days, but eventually she started to feel herself dozing off again. Before sleep could take hold, she turned onto her other side to face away from him so she could hide the fact she had been staring.

When Kugutsu woke up, he was still asleep. She quietly and carefully got up, keeping her eyes on him. _I'm going to get him some games_, she determined. _I feel pretty okay. As long as I don't use my quirk again, I won't strain myself._

She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, hoping to slip out of the hideout and be back quickly. Instead, she found herself immediately accosted by three other villains. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, her face expressionless as she regarded the others.

Spinner had changed out of the UA uniform he had stolen and was back in his Stain cosplay. "Yami, are you okay?! You were asleep for three days!"

"Shut up, lizard man. What the hell was that giant shadow you put over everything?" the new recruit Bakugou demanded.

"I wanted to make a joke about cats having nine lives, but you didn't die. Too bad." This remark came from Dabi, who seemed way too amused to find that she was alive and well.

"I'm glad I didn't die; it spared everyone from having to hear whatever half-assed shitty joke you might've said." Kugutsu glared down the hallway at him and then turned her attention back to the other two. "What did I miss?"

"Well, after I carried you back here, Shigaraki asked what happened and wanted me to take him back to the bar we started at." Spinner glanced toward the room she had emerged from, a bit anxious.

"Yami-chan, you're awake? Where's Tomura?" Toga appeared in the doorway to the stairs, a plastic bag in hand. "Did he finally go to sleep?"

"Finally?"

The blonde girl frowned and walked over to join the others. "He was guarding you the whole time you were asleep, Yami-chan. He wouldn't even let anyone else in the room to check on you," she pouted.

It should have made her blush, but instead it made the color drain from Kugutsu's face. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried to keep her expression neutral, but guilt was sinking in. _I really caused a lot of problems for him, didn't I?_


	44. Chapter 44

Kugutsu spent a few hours out, trying to find just the right games for her crush. She also grabbed a bunch of food she thought everyone might like, since she was in a decent mood. The guilt from earlier lifted and now all she could think about was how she had dozed off while lying next to her idol.

When she stepped into the new hideout, she took a minute to try to calm herself down because she knew her face was probably red. Aggressively ruffling her hair, the girl closed her eyes. _Just stop blushing! I probably look like some kind of freak! Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ She stomped a few times and shook her head.

"Okay…it's okay." Pushing her hair away from her eyes, she grimaced. "Just be **_normal_**, damn it!"

"Everything okay down there?! Hey! Keep it down!"

She jolted and lifted her head to find Twice staring down at her from the open doorway to the second floor. _Are you serious? How the hell did I not expect my voice to echo in the stairs? How many people heard that?!_

Kugutsu's ears flattened in embarrassment and she huffed in frustration. Forcing her mouth into a straight line, she gave a nod. "I just…dropped my bags, Jin-san," she called up to him, hoping to reclaim her dignity.

Unfortunately, he took that as a request for help and came bounding down the stairs to grab half of the bags for her. "Oooh! What'd you get?"

"Food." She tried to keep her heart from racing as she imagined handing over the new games to Shigaraki. _He's going to love them! I got him the collector's edition of that one RPG, with the little figures. The others look like they'll be fun, too. I wonder if he'd let me watch him play. Agh! I can't just demand something like that!_

The girl told Twice where to set down the bags and started handing out rations to everyone, but she soon realized something important. For one, their resident trash panda was missing. For two, Bakugou was also missing. For three, the absolute love of her life was still asleep in his room. Her left ear twitched as she looked around at the other villains.

"Where's the kid?" She glanced over at Spinner, who had seated himself next to her while he ate.

"Huh? It was Dabi's turn to watch the kid, right?" He almost sounded like a kid that was worried they misread a chore wheel or something.

Kugutsu's neutral expression gave way to confusion. "What?"

"Everyone was taking turns watching him." Grains of rice fell out of his mouth as he talked and he frowned, trying to keep them from getting all over his costume.

At this point, the only ones left in the little room were Kugutsu, Spinner, Twice, Toga, and Magne. Compress and Kurogiri took their share of food and left the room to presumably eat in a different room where they would not have to worry about actual human interaction during a meal.

"So where is that dumpster fire?" She looked at each of her fellow villains, pausing at Twice as she saw him try to eat through his mask.

Her first assumption was that maybe the kid had wanted to spar and they went to a room on the first floor to do that. She kind of hoped they went to the roof to spar and that he might have shoved Dabi over the edge to an untimely demise. She frowned when she realized that if that had happened, she definitely would have noticed the singed ragdoll's remains splattered on the ground outside.

"Oh. Uh…I don't know," Spinner admitted first.

"Yeah. I haven't seen Dabi in a while," Magne agreed. "Maybe an hour ago?"

"I saw him leave! No I didn't!"

"He'll be back eventually. What's the big deal?" Toga pointed out. "They probably went for supplies, right?"

Kugutsu's ears drew back as conflict set in. She had enough experience as a broker's assistant to know that even if a captive does side with you, any trust you have in them has to be built up cautiously because they could always turn against you again. She had learned that the hard way during a hostage situation once.

Her eyes settled on the game store bag beside her and she felt her frown growing deeper. A hand lifted to try to hide it from the others until she could get her emotions under control. _That idiot will be back eventually_, she reassured herself. _Besides, I've got better things to do than worry about if he's doing his job._

Lingering in the room for a while after her meal was gone, Kugutsu thought back to the absolute train-wreck that was her last job from Giran. All she had to do was retrieve one file for him and she had somehow managed to not just fail at doing that, but cover an entire neighborhood in a thick, moving shadow. More importantly, she had really inconvenienced Shigaraki.

She ruffled her hair without thinking, her lips twisted into a snarl as she tried to push away the memory of what that man said about her crush. Calling him crusty. Saying he looked gross, basically. _Shigaraki…is __**amazing**__! How the hell could anyone see him as anything less than incredible?! Just look at him!_

"Are you okay?" Spinner, like the others, looked more than a little concerned. This was the concern you feel when you see a supposedly deactivated bomb start counting down.

Realizing how many people just witnessed her miniature meltdown, she pushed herself to stand up. "I'm fine." Her face was set in a neutral expression and she regarded the others with as much aloofness as she could manage. "If you hear from that creepy staple face, let me know. I've got stuff to do."

Kugutsu closed the door behind her when she left the room and quietly made her way to the room she had shared with Shigaraki. There were no sounds on the other side of the door. Nothing to indicate that he was awake. As much as her warped little fan girl heart wanted her to go in and watch him sleep, she felt guilty when she thought about why he was so tired.

Leaning her back against the wall beside the door, she slid down and sat. Sinking into the hooded sweatshirt he had given her, Kugutsu had to just satisfy her Shigaraki craving by sniffing at the dark fabric and grinning to herself. _He's…the best! He's so amazing and hardly anyone can even appreciate it! But that means he's all mine! I'm the only one that can admire him and really appreciate how great he is!_

She tried to run her fingers through her hair, but they got stuck in her tangled locks pretty quickly and made her wince she tried to tug them free. Kugutsu scowled, head down, as she tried to carefully get her fingers out of her hair before anyone could see how ridiculous she probably looked. "So damn stupid…"

The girl had managed to get her index finger free and was trying to slide the others loose when she heard the door beside her open just a little. Kugutsu tensed and turned her head to the side, her face quickly turning red with shame. "I-I can explain this," she started.

A red eye appeared in the small opening as he drew closer and then a finger came into view, beckoning her into the room. The eye and finger disappeared quickly and the door was left open. This was basically all she needed as an invitation to eagerly follow him like a puppy.

Inside, the room was lit by one battery powered lantern. It cast shadows across her crush's face, giving him an appearance that any sane person would probably find terrifying. It made her heart skip a beat and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from grinning. In such a dark room, if she lost control of her emotions then her quirk would turn this room in a writhing mess of solid shadowy shapes.

Shigaraki was sitting against the wall with the lantern off to the side, frowning and still appearing a little sleepy. His pale blue hair looked a little messier than usual so he had probably just woken up. A hand was held out to her, expectant. Thankfully, she seemed to read his mind and carefully placed a rice ball into his palm. He immediately began eating, but said nothing.

Kugutsu's horrible awkwardness kicked in again and she looked around, trying to decide where to sit. Then she tried to determine if it would be rude to sit down. _What if he wants me to stand? What if he just wants me to leave the food and go outside again? Why am I just standing here watching him eat like I'm some kind of creep?!_ Then she remembered that her right middle and ring fingers were still tangled in her messy obsidian hair.

As she tried again to get her hair untangled, she knew how he probably saw her right now. After all, she was standing in front of him and frantically tugging at her hair like some kind of lunatic. All while attempting, and failing, to keep a straight face.

He finished eating without even looking at her and grumbled something under his breath. A can of chilled black tea was placed on the floor in front of him and he nudged it back toward her with his shoe. "Open it. I'm tired. You don't want to make me do more work, do you?"

"N-no, sorry. Here." Kugutsu fell to her knees in front of him and opened the can of tea. It was handed back to him and she found herself staring at him while he drank. The way the lantern light shone on him highlighted his collarbone when he tipped his head back to drink from the can. She felt herself starting to sweat a little as she stared at his neck and collarbone, a tingle running through her and making her want to grin.

Setting the can down, he narrowed his eyes on her. "What're you staring at?"

"…nothing…" She turned her head to the side, but felt a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. _What's wrong with me?! Why do I want to keep staring at him? Why am I getting this excited over something like a neck? He probably thinks I'm one of those crazy fan girls that breaks into their idol's house naked and steals their hairbrush when they're out of town!_

Meanwhile, Shigaraki was a little perplexed by the fact that she had turned her head, but was still staring at him intensely because her eyes were still locked on him. He started scratching his neck and then dropped his gaze to the bag next to her. "What is that?"

"Oh! I brought you something…er…well it's more like a gift. You said that I should make it up to you since I caused so many problems with my quirk so I got you some games and snacks. I even got the collector's edition of this RPG. It comes with hand-painted figures of the main classes you can pick and there's an art booklet-"

"My console died yesterday and we don't have electricity. How am I supposed to play games with a dead console?" Despite grumbling about it, he still reached over and dragged the bag closer to him. Shigaraki began looking through the games and snacks, still frowning. At least he had stopped making those angry little gremlin sounds. It gave her some hope that he might still like the gifts.

Kugutsu saw his eyes abruptly lift to look her way again. He nodded in a beckoning motion and she was more than happy to sit beside him while he looked at the games she had picked out. As much as she wanted to sit right next to him, touching knees, she kept a respectful three inches between them.

All of the irritation from earlier was gone and replaced with pure, fan girl bliss as she watched him flip through one of the game booklets. _He likes it…right?_ She glanced up and the annoyed look he was wearing had faded just a little. Kugutsu lifted her hand to hide her smile and caught him glancing over.

He chewed at his lower lip, watching her from the edge of his vision. The corner of his chapped lips lifted and he lowered his head a little. "You wanted to impress me, didn't you?"

A hand settled on the top of her head, four fingers stroking over her hair and her pointed ears. Her eyes half-closed and, to her humiliation, she started purring in contentment. This was still the second happiest she had felt since they moved to the new hideout. Second only to falling asleep next to her crush.

The moment was completely destroyed by the door opening with no warning. The fingers that had been basically playing with her left ear stopped moving. Shigaraki lifted his gaze to the figure now leaning in the doorway. "What do you want? Haven't you heard of knocking? Get out of my room."

Kugutsu, not at all caring that her idol sounded like a moody teenager growling at their mom, moved to stand and confront Dabi. Three fingers gripped her sleeve to stop her from crossing the room. She glanced down at Shigaraki, who nodded toward the spot beside him again in a silent command.

She wanted to obey. She wanted to make him happy. She was totally devoted to him and she hated to disappoint him. However, seeing Dabi's smirk made her bristle with rage. "Where's the kid?"

"What?" He looked down at the bag in front of Shigaraki, as if debating if he should ask for some snacks or not.

"The _kid_. The kid _you_ were supposed to be watching. _Bakugou_. Where is he?" Kugutsu tried to keep her voice level, but it was becoming difficult.

Dabi stared back at her for a long moment before shrugging. "I was supposed to watch him?"

"So where the fuck is he?! Damn it! Who thought that a piece of burnable trash like you should be left in charge of a kid? I wouldn't even put you in charge of a hamster! Let alone a living thing!"

This finally prompted Shigaraki to let her go. He stood and walked past her to Dabi, his eyes narrowing as he approached. "If you don't know where he is, then we need to find him. Now I'll have to organize a search party."


	45. Chapter 45

"So…explain what happened. I thought you were capable of taking care of things for a few hours, but I guess I was wrong. Where's the new recruit?"

Kugutsu struggled to contain her excitement at seeing her idol take this leadership role. Hearing him talk that way and regard the other villains with such a harshness made her little heart soar. She curled her hands into fists beside her, battling the almost overwhelming fan girl squeal that wanted to escape her lips.

"I thought you put _her_ in charge of the kid." Dabi nodded toward Kugutsu from across the room, smirking when he saw her ears flatten in irritation. "Isn't she supposed to be your right hand or something?"

"I never said that, did I? Besides, why would _she_ be in charge of him when she just woke up? She probably can't even use her quirk right now," Shigaraki argued. He itched at his neck, his lips twisted into an unpleasant grimace.

"So the kitty's basically useless?"

Before Kugutsu could snap at Dabi, she found Twice both defending her and scolding her for overusing her quirk. This seemed to be everyone's cue to chime in with their own opinions about who should take the blame here. She bit her lip, hating herself for going overboard when she ran that errand for Giran. _I didn't even get the files. What if that crispy creep is right? What if I __**am**__ useless? I can't even help Shigaraki now because I'm still regaining my strength!_

"Everyone shut up. Whatever you're saying doesn't matter now. We can't let the kid run off and tell those heroes where we are. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to divide you into teams and I want everyone to search for him. We'll meet at a designated spot at midnight and if we haven't found him, I'll have to find a new base for us. So don't half-ass this."

Toga raised a hand, as if it were a class. "Can't we pick our own teams?"

"I said _I'm_ picking the teams. Why? Do you have an idea?" Shigaraki challenged her in a grumble.

"No, but I want-"

"I'm splitting everyone up the way I think is best. Do you think you can do better?" He directed his glare her way now, becoming visibly tense.

Kugutsu wanted to back him up, but stopped herself. She bristled at someone questioning him. _Stay calm. Be professional. But…seriously?! What the hell is her problem? What? Does she want to pair up with Shigaraki? Is she planning to get all lovey-dovey with my-?!_

"What're you doing?" The question came from her crush as he turned to look at her. Most of the others were staring at her, too. Not that anyone could blame them for staring.

In her burst of panic and frustration, Kugutsu had started to aggressively ruffle her hair with both hands without even realizing it. Untangling her fingers from her hair, she shoved her hands into her pockets and put on a neutral expression. "Sorry."

"Uh…are you okay, Yami?" Spinner tilted his head curiously.

"We should start searching before we lose too much daylight. Everyone be careful not to be seen," Kurogiri spoke up, redirecting everyone's attention.

Shigaraki, back on track now, nodded toward the door. "Get going. I told you who you're paired up with and where you're going. Make sure you bring him back alive. I don't want you to bring me body parts." This, of course, was directed mostly at Kugutsu and Toga.

_I wasn't paying attention. Who did I get paired up with? How did I miss what he was saying?! Ugh! I'm already letting him down again! Damn it! _She gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself from ruffling her hair again. Kugutsu looked to the other villains, who were already leaving the room in pairs. Shigaraki was the first through the door. _Who did he pair me up with?_

She felt like she was being watched and turned to glare at Dabi. He gave her a smug half-grin in response that made her blood boil. Kugutsu bristled, her ears flattened in outrage, and she stood tensely. "What're _you_ looking at, crispy creep?"

The taller villain approached and leaned down so he was almost at eye level with her. "What're you meowing about, kitty?"

"Back off." She felt a growl forming at the back of her throat as a hand settled on the top of her head and ruffled her hair. "I will fucking _kill_ you, you charred piece of trash! Back the fuck up before I put a shadow spike through your face! I doubt those staples will keep you held together!"

His thumb and first two fingers gripped onto one of her ears and pinched, making the girl hiss. "Your ears are your weak points, right?"

"Shut your creepy half and half mouth before I break out all of your teeth, one by one! And let go of me!"

"Don't touch Yami. I thought I said for everyone to start searching. So why are you messing around? I'm your leader, aren't I? So why don't you trying showing some more respect and stop playing with her? You're supposed to come with us and you're just wasting our time at this point."

Hearing Shigaraki's voice in the doorway, Kugutsu was empowered enough to form a few shadow spikes from the shadows below her. They were tall spikes and pressed tightly at the sides of Dabi's arm to trap it in place while she slipped away from him. "Sorry."

The blue-haired villain grumbled quietly and turned away, moving out into the hallway again. "Let's go. Now we're the last group leaving."

_I thought we were going in pairs. Wait…I'm in Shigaraki's group?_ Kugutsu lowered her head, allowing herself a grin as she followed him. Her racing fan girl heart was set on impressing him this time. If she could find Bakugou before the other groups, or even just provide adequate support to Shigaraki when he caught Bakugou, she would happy.

"Tone it back a little. You're gonna get drool on his hoodie," a voice taunted right behind her.

"The way you're talking, it almost sounds like you're _jealous_." Kugutsu turned around, walking backwards and making intense eye contact. The sharp turquoise eyes of her enemy narrowed in response to the glare of her catlike yellow eyes. "If I think, for even a _second_, that you're going to try to take him from me…I'm going to tear out all of your staples with a rusty spoon and disembowel you. When I'm done with you, you'll just be a pile of gooey innards and overcooked flesh. So you'd better watch it or else-!"

"Seriously?" He smirked down at her, picking up his pace so he was matching her and looming over the girl. "I wanna see you try to-"

Three fingers gripped Kugutsu's hood and yanked her backwards before Dabi could get too close. Both of the villains stopped walking, which was for the best since they were at the top of the stairs now. Shigaraki glared over Kugutsu's shoulder at Dabi and narrowed his eyes. "Don't touch."

The charred villain raised an eyebrow and his smirk grew. "You two…are pretty lame."

Once outside, the three took to the back alleys since Dabi's appearance would definitely draw attention on the sidewalk. Kugutsu walked a short distance behind Shigaraki and Dabi was further behind her. Walking in a weird, spaced out row like villainous ducklings.

It took only a few minutes of this before their leader got irritated and turned to glare at them over his shoulder. Kugutsu jogged to come up beside him, eager to help if he needed something. Instead, he then lowered his head and started chewing at his lower lip.

"Um…so why is _he_ with us?" she forced herself to ask. She was hesitant to question her crush's strategy, but she had to wonder why he put that trash panda on their team.

For a moment, it seemed like Shigaraki would refuse to explain himself. His lower lip was actually bleeding a little from the chapped skin and from chewing on it. Lowering his head a little more, he licked the blood away and scowled. "You're both destructive so I want to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't draw attention to yourselves or do something else that's stupid."

Whatever Kugutsu had hoped to hear, this was not it. _He doesn't trust us? Damn it! It's my own fault! After that stupid stunt that I pulled before! Of course he thinks I'm incompetent! Of course he'd put me on the same level as that overcooked muffin!_

"You want to be with me, anyway. Don't you?"

"Ah…th-that's right," she admitted. She bowed her head, unable to keep herself from smiling a little. "Shigaraki, I want to prove to you that I can be helpful so-"

"How's your stamina?"

Kugutsu brightened more and her ears perked forward. "I'm feeling a lot better. I used my quirk a little earlier so if I have to use it again, I think I'll be okay. I mean, it should hold out for a while if I have to do something."

He lifted a hand, picking away a bit of dead skin from his lower lip before licking away more blood. "When we find him…I want you to make a cage out of shadows. You can do that, can't you?" He saw her nod eagerly. "So I want you to show me. Make a cage around that freak behind us."

"R-right! I can do it!" She turned to glare at Dabi over her shoulder. The idea of using her quirk on him again made her heart feel like it was filling with bubbles. Especially when she thought about doing this to show off for Shigaraki.

They had stopped a short ways from the opening of the alley and now she crouched down as if to tug one of her socks up. A hand pressed at the shadows on the ground and sent them weaving and racing at Dabi before he could back away. Black bars of shadow lifted from the ground and flowed, weaving into a rounded cage-like shape that trapped the villain.

At her side, Shigaraki watched with interest and seemed satisfied. Sadly, Dabi was less than surprised. Blue flames quickly engulfed the shadows and burned them away into nothingness as a smirk took form on her enemy's face. "What was that about? Are you challenging me again?"

The girl subconsciously lifted a hand to the burn on her cheek and she smirked back. "What're you going to do about it, patchy?"

"I killed you before."

"Yeah and _I_ killed _you_ before!"

"Twice isn't making more doubles so you can forget your stupid little fight. I was testing Yami's skills," Shigaraki interrupted before they could attempt to kill each other. He started walking ahead of them again, expecting them to follow him without any further questions.

Kugutsu followed at a slight distance again, embarrassed that she lost her composure in front of him. She knew how lame she probably sounded, shouting at Dabi like a bratty little kid. _Why can't I just stay calm when I'm around him?! I just…get so excited around Shigaraki that I lose control! Why am I so lame?!_

"Surprised you didn't wear yourself out." Dabi came up beside her, not looking at the girl, but still wearing a smug sort of expression.

"Shut your wh*re mouth, trash panda."

"Ouch. That almost stung."

She was about to snap at him, but stopped herself when she looked at Shigaraki. Her crush was walking ahead of them, slouching and murmuring something to himself as he glanced up toward the darkening sky. _Even when he's annoyed, he looks so cool. I can't even focus on insulting this piece of trash next to me when I'm this distracted._

The villain next to her followed her line of sight and raised an eyebrow. He leaned down a little, the amusement in his eyes just a little too malevolent. "Hey. When you do it, do you guys go from behind like cats or-?"

"I will fucking tear off your…and make you fucking eat it…you sick piece of shit! I'll crush your skull under my boot! I'll tear off your lower jaw and shove it-! Just shut that disgusting mouth before I seal it up with super glue while you're asleep, crispy creep!"

Shigaraki looked over his shoulder after hearing his fan girl shout and found her in an actual, physical altercation with Dabi. He watched for a while as the girl yanked at Dabi's hair, her other hand sinking her nails into the pale skin of his right cheek bone and tearing sideways toward his nose. The scarred villain was holding her left wrist with his right hand, trying to keep her from pulling his hair out, and his other hand was holding her shoulder as if he was afraid she would try to lean in and bite his face.

He stood there for a moment, observing the bizarre fight and half-hoping his fan would actually manage to do some damage. The moment was, thankfully, disturbed by Kugutsu's phone ringing. The girl kicked Dabi away from her and answered it, only to frown and then try to hand it to Shigaraki.

"What? I don't want your phone. Who is it?" he demanded.

"It's Giran."

"Just put him on speaker."

The second that she did, she felt her heart drop into her stomach. The hideout in Kamino ward had been raided. Not only that, but Giran said that All for One was currently fighting All Might. She looked at Shigaraki's face and felt like her heart was breaking in half. "We…we need to get to a TV! I'm sure it's fine!"


	46. Chapter 46

NeonHorizon:...I also have a Hawks story out now, if you're into that...

* * *

Kugutsu had been in plenty of bad situations before. Most of her career as a broker's assistant was comprised of bad situations. With so much experience, it would make sense that she would be good at dealing with things like this. Unfortunately, since Shigaraki was involved, it was basically impossible for her to keep a level head.

She was being thrown into an absolute panic at seeing her crush suffer. They were still searching for a television so he could watch the news coverage of the fight between their master and All Might. It was clear though; he was starting to shut down. He was normally quiet, but in an irritated, "villain angst" sort of way.

Shigaraki's eyes held something she had never wanted to see there. Fear. Pain. As much as she just wanted to tell him that everything would be alright, she knew better than to do that. After all, that was exactly what All Might had done when he pulled her away from her dead parents and it had only made her feel worse about surviving.

Dabi was with them, but he was providing no help whatsoever. He hung back behind them, moving at a leisurely pace. As if Shigaraki's world was not crumbling apart. As if this was not an absolutely dire situation. It pissed her off and she silently vowed to herself that when everything had settled again, she would tell him off.

For now, her number one priority was finding a television. She finally gave in to her own frustration and forced her way into a home. The residents were out so she had the opportunity to get her crush to a television so he could see what was happening. All the while, her heart felt like it was being shredded by knives.

He sat slouched in front of the television, his expression going blank. Staring vacantly at the spectacle that was the fight between All for One and All Might. No words from him. Not even scratching his neck or picking at the dry, dead skin on his lips.

She hated to see him this way. Kugutsu sat beside him, her pointed ears flattening in bitter rage as she glared at the image of All Might on the screen. _That piece of trash. We should've killed him. I should've made Kurogiri go along with my plan! We could've killed the symbol of peace and then Shigaraki wouldn't be upset! How dare he do this to Shigaraki!_

A hand rudely waved in front of the villain's face and Kugutsu's hand darted out. She gripped Dabi's wrist hard, nails sinking into his patchy skin and her cat-yellow eyes narrowed up at him. "Back the fuck up before I tear out your throat."

"Leader's looking kind of dead," he remarked, nodding at Shigaraki.

"He's not an inconsiderate trash panda. This affects him so-"

"Pretty sure it affects everyone."

"Sit down or I'll out your insides and leave your corpse in the bathtub."

"Both of you shut up." Shigaraki glowered at the two other villains, causing Kugutsu to actually flinch and making Dabi tilt his head. "My master is doing something important. He's going to kill All Might and you're both ruining the moment. If you're going to keep arguing like toddlers, then you can go outside. I don't want any distractions."

The girl let go of Dabi, but scowled up at him. Trying to keep her irritation contained, she slouched beside Shigaraki and watched the screen. _Will All for One really able to beat All Might? I know he's really strong; he's like a god tier villain. But All Might is actually kind of tough. If he doesn't win, how's Shigaraki going to take it?_

Her answer came at the end of the fight when the hero emerged victorious, but heavily injured. Looking like an action figure that was just pulled from a garbage disposal. Their master, the god tier villain, was defeated. Kugutsu stared at the screen with wide eyes, unsure if she should feel enraged or depressed.

She shifted her gaze to the villain sitting beside her and felt her heart sink. Shigaraki's messy, pale blue hair was falling forward over his face as widened red eyes stared at the screen. He looked like he was still trying to process what happened, but she could already tell that he knew. It was in the way his chapped lips twisted in displeasure, the way the muscles in his neck tensed.

"Looks like All Might won," Dabi needlessly pointed out. "So now what?"

Kugutsu rushed to try to say something that would keep Shigaraki's spirits up. "Not everyone's brain operates at the slow pace yours does. Isn't it obvious? Shigaraki's in charge now. He'll take his place!"

"Are you serious?"

"What's your problem? He's amazing! If anyone should be at the top, it's _him_! Burnable trash like you should know your place. Crawl back to the bin and wait for trash day!" She saw that Dabi was about to retort and readied herself to snap back at him, but they both went silent when they saw Shigaraki start scratching at his neck with one hand.

"Amazing? You really think I'm amazing? My fan really thinks I should be at the top now? You must have so much faith in me. You'd trust me with your life, wouldn't you? You'd follow me to the end of the earth." He lifted his head and stared over at her with narrowed blood-red eyes. "I bet you want to get me something, don't you?"

She perked up at the idea of being useful. "D-do you need something? I'll get you whatever you want. Just tell me what it is and I'll get it," she assured him.

"Go find food."

"Right. I'll find something good. I promise."

**Shift P.O.V**

He watched her go and saw Dabi follow. Under any other circumstances, he might be angry. He might demand that Dabi stay behind or he might force his way between the two. Truthfully, he wanted to be alone for a moment.

Scratching at his neck with both hands, Shigaraki closed his eyes and tried to process what he was feeling. Seeing his master defeated by All Might was too much for him to handle. To see All for One, his master, the man who had taken him in and raised him, defeated by the symbol of peace. It was too much.

Blood oozed from the deep scratches on his neck and he slouched, letting his hands rest at his sides on the floor. Palm up, fingers curled slightly inward. Blood drying beneath his nails. Heart beating faster with each panicked thought about how he now had an important role to take over.

It was hard to feel any sense of pleasure at taking that role when he had just watched his master get beaten. He could only imagine that this is how Kugutsu would probably feel if she saw him lose a fight. This thought drew his gaze toward the kitchen. The smell of cooking food wafted to him from the open doorway, along with the sound of angry banter between the other two villains.

His frustration started to increase. It was annoying enough that he had to sit by as his master was defeated, unable to help him. Unable to even say good bye; he knew that it would be a while before he was able to speak to him again. Hearing Kugutsu and Dabi argue in the other room just added more fuel to his irritation.

Staring at the television screen, Shigaraki narrowed his eyes on the image of All Might pointing and saying something that he did not care enough about to actually register. It was All Might. A hero that made him sick to his stomach just to look at.

Remembering what Kugutsu said brought him back from the depths of outrage and he chewed at his lower lip. _My fan said I'm amazing. Of course she thinks I'm amazing. She really thinks I can lead these idiots. My fan has so much faith in me that she'd follow me anywhere._

Chapped lips drew into a wide grin that cracked open his dry skin, causing his lips to bleed just a little. The metallic tang of blood helped him focus as he leaned toward the television and raised a hand. _All Might. I'll show you. I'll show her. I'm going to show everyone. I'll take over where my master left off._

All five fingertips pressed against the television screen and he watched it crumble beneath his quirk. The smell of cooking food turned to a burning smell, unsurprisingly. Kugutsu shrieked in the kitchen, shouting at Dabi. Soon he could hear dishes breaking.

_I shouldn't keep my fan waiting_, he determined as he stood. _I'll show her right now. I'm going to make her realize I'm even better than amazing._ Shigaraki needed an extra boost of confidence for what he had to do now from this point on. What better way to get it than to turn to his one and only fan girl?

**Shift P.O.V**

She stared down at the charred scrap of meat in the pan, feeling a tightness in her chest. The food was ruined. The family who lived in this place had just a few pieces of meat and she was trying to cook them for her crush. Dabi had totally ruined the meal by applying a burst of blue flames to the pan as soon as her back was turned.

"Why are you trying to sabotage me?" she snarled, gripping the handle of the pan and preparing herself to bash him over the head. What she really wanted to see was him lying sprawled on the floor with blood gushing from his scalp. Of course, Shigaraki would probably be disappointed in her if she did it. Dabi's quirk made him valuable, but she knew that was his only good point.

"What're you meowing about?"

Before she could lunge forward and smash his skull in with the pan, Kugutsu saw her idol step into the doorway and she went still. Their eyes met and she felt her face turning a hot shade of pink. "I-I'm not ready yet," she stammered.

His gaze shifted to Dabi, who looked almost offended that he was being stared at. "Leave. I want to be alone with my fan."

The dark-haired villain scoffed and flashed a smirk. "What're you gonna do? Are you gonna pet-?"

"Finish that sentence. I dare you. I'll rip open your chest with the dull side of a butter knife," Kugutsu hissed. Her grip on the pan's handle was so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

She watched the charred edge lord stalk out of the room, still appearing smug. As if he had somehow won. Although she was clearly the winner here; she now had Shigaraki all to herself. Her twisted little fan girl heart was beginning to pound as she released the pan and attempted to keep calm.

_I'm alone with him! All alone! He wanted to be alone with me without any distractions! But he doesn't look happy. Can I make him happy? I really want to make Shigaraki happy, but I have no idea what I'm doing! How can I make someone as incredible as him happy?! I'm just a-!_

Her eyes widened, fingers tangled in her own dark hair as she had started to subconsciously ruffle it. She had been so distracted with her own little moment of panic that she failed to notice her crush approach. Now both arms were wrapped around her, holding her against his chest as he gave her a semi-awkward hug. "Sh-Shigaraki? Is…everything okay? Are you okay?"

To her further surprise, he rested his chin on the top of her head and released a deep sigh. "You expect a lot from me, don't you? You know how amazing I am so you want to see me succeed. You really think I can take over where my master left off?"

Kugutsu's blush turned from pink to red. She wanted to nod, but she was afraid of disturbing him. "Of course I do! You're awesome! You're the coolest villain ever! If anyone can do it, it's you!"

Shigaraki lifted a hand from her back as he straightened and traced a fingertip along the edge of her right ear, listening to the soft purring that came from her when he did this. "That's why you love me, isn't it? You think I'm cool."

"I…I know you're cool. I've seen how cool you are. There's no questioning how cool you are! When you use your quirk, it's totally amazing! And every time you talk, I feel my heart start to race! I love everything about you!" She bit her lip after this confession. _I sound so lame, though! He probably thinks I'm creepy or nerdy!_

There was a brief silence as he simply continued to fondle her feline ear, mumbling something to himself. "I like hearing you say it. So I want to hear you say it again. Tell me what you think of me."

Giddiness made her want to bounce up and down. She wanted to scream her love for him to the skies for everyone to hear. Yet, at the same time, her desire to keep him to herself made her wary. Compliment him too much and someone else might realize how cool he was and they might try to take him from her.

"I…I love everything about you! Your quirk is really cool and you're good at making plans and I like your smile a lot and I think you're awesome! You're the best villain and you're an awesome leader, too! Shigaraki, you're the total package! I think you're c-cute and you're the coolest person I've ever met!"

The arm that was still around her tightened. The girl's hips pressed forward against his and she bit back some more purring. What she did not know was that this was exactly what he needed. Her words added fuel to his fire and made him feel stronger, more confident. Of course, this fell just short of being enough for him. "I make your day just by existing, don't I?"

"Yes! I'd…I'd die for your smile!" she blurted out.

He pulled away and stared down at her, puzzlement clear on his face. "You'd die? You'd really do anything, wouldn't you?" Seeing her nod, his already slightly bloody lips dew into a malevolent grin. "Alright. I want to test you. Let's see how far you'll really go for me."


	47. Chapter 47

As much as she wanted to make Shigaraki happy, she would be lying if she tried to say she was not enjoying herself. All of the guys Kugutsu had ever been involved with before were put off by her feline ears and the grotesque stump of her tail. They never touched those parts of her. In fact, they actively avoided them and it made her feel like a freak.

Feeling three fingers skim over the back of her shorts, over the bump where the remainder of her tail was, Kugutsu had to half-grin to herself. She kept her face hidden, her head down. His other hand was pressed against her upper back with four fingers, keeping her against him so he could continue to touch her tail.

"What should I have you do? There are so many things I want right now," he mumbled, scarred lips skimming her left ear. His fingertips trailed up more, two fingers slipping into the back belt loop on her shorts and tugging. "I know. Why don't we start with something easy? You like to _please_ me, don't you?"

She jolted at the sudden action. "What should I do?" Kugutsu's face went redder than a fan girl at an autograph signing when he leaned back and grinned down at her with bloody, chapped lips.

A few minutes later, Kugutsu was struggling not to purr as three fingers caressed the side of her face. Her cheeks were still a bright, warm color and now her eyes were closed as he pulled her closer. A tingly feeling began in her lower abdomen as her lips wrapped around a particular part of her crush, the tip momentarily pressing at the back of her throat before his hips drew back.

She hesitantly lifted her hands, gently gripping his hips. A fresh wave of heat ran through her, settling below her stomach. Her pulse quickened with her nervousness and the excitement of trying to bring him pleasure. Kugutsu pressed her legs closer together as she ran her tongue along that part, doing everything she could to try to get a reaction from him.

The hand that was at the side of her face moved, four fingers tangling roughly in her hair as he started to set a rhythm. Teeth closing on his bleeding lower lip, eyes half-lidded as he stared down at his fan girl. His breathing was already a little uneven and strands of pale blue hair were falling over his face.

His lips stretched into a grin as he tugged at her hair. "Why don't you look at me?" The girl's eyes opened slowly, cat-yellow meeting the harsh red of his stare. "There. That's perfect. You like this, don't you?" There was no way for her to nod or answer verbally, but since she continued, he assumed that she had no complaints. "You like serving your idol on your knees. You probably want me to give you more. Here. I'll let you have as much as you can take."

Kugutsu's eyes watered a little as he pushed further in, forcing her lips against the base. She tensed, fingertips digging into his hips as her grip tightened. Panic started to form, but she gradually managed to relax her throat and focused on the feeling of three fingers on his free hand trailing along her cheek.

Her hips shifted side to side and, much to her embarrassment, she began to purr. The vibrations forced a sharp hiss and his hips pushed forward, stopping their movement. Kugutsu felt him pulse and the fingers that were in her hair stopped her from being able to pull back. As life-scarring as this embarrassment was, she still felt a sense of satisfaction at being able to give him that relief.

At the same time, she still had a strong desire to meet her own release. He drew from her, staring down at her intensely as if to order her to swallow. She did, more than happy to oblige him, but squirmed a little in discomfort from feeling so heated without relief. The fact that she was this excited without him even touching her that way was further proof to her that he was her true love.

"You still want more, don't you?" A finger pressed beneath her chin, making sure that she kept eye contact with him even now that her task was complete. "Go on. Tell me what you want."

To her further humiliation, Kugutsu was starting to purr again. She shifted her gaze as her face turned a bright shade of red that would put a virgin's blush to shame. "I-I want you to touch me," she muttered, starting to feel subconscious.

His grin spread wider and he leaned down so his face was a few inches from hers. "I'll do it when you finish. How about that? Wouldn't that be the perfect reward for my girl?"

_His girl?!_ Her heart skipped a beat; the excitement of being called his girl almost overshadowing her lust. "A-alright! What else do you need me to do?" she asked, eager for the reward.

**Shift P.O.V**

Now that he was alone again, he could take a moment to process everything fully. A lot was happening, after all. He was going to have to step up and take the place of his master now. Before that, he needed to gather his comrades again. No one besides Giran had made contact lately so he was sure no one had managed to find Bakugou.

Sitting at the table in the kitchen, his clothes back in order, he had to consider his next step. Once he had everyone together, they would have to find a new hideout. He had to consider the mistakes he made with his previous plan and make a new plan that could help him progress.

"Where's the kitty?" The annoying, crispy ragdoll known as Dabi appeared in the doorway and glanced from Shigaraki to the doorway out of his leader's line of sight. Settling his languid, amused gaze on the blue-haired villain, he grinned. "You played with her, right?"

"It's none of your business, freak."

Dabi stepped closer, looking way too amused to let the subject drop. In fact, he seemed smug. "You know, I had some fun with her double before I killed her."

His eyes widened slightly and Shigaraki had to stop himself from standing and slamming his hand into Dabi's face. "What did you say? I thought I heard you say something, but you're not stupid enough to-"

"Shigaraki Tomura. Are you here?" Kurogiri's voice came from the next room, drawing their attention. The other villain entered the kitchen, passing Dabi without a second glance. "We need to take our leave. I will transport you somewhere safe for the time being. We need to leave immediately."

He scratched at his already somewhat scabby neck and scowled. "I sent my fan girl on a special mission. I'm not leaving until she comes back."

"I have to insist that we leave immediately," Kurogiri reiterated. "The authorities have located the hideout. Kugutsu-san was the one that alerted me to this."

In that instant, he had a horrible, sinking sort of feeling. The last task that Shigaraki had sent her on, with the promise of rewarding her upon her return. He had sent her back to the hideout to get the games she had gotten for him.

"We have to get her." He remembered the tracking app on her phone and tried to check her location on his phone. The little dot that represented her was still in the hideout. Not moving. _They caught her? No. My fan girl wouldn't let herself get taken alive. _And with that thought, his heart beat raced and his four fingers tightened on the phone.

"So we've gotta run?" Dabi's voice was just an annoying noise in the background as Shigaraki's pulse pounded in his ears.

"I'm only bringing Shigaraki Tomura at this time."

The partially cooked villain rubbed the back of his neck and tilted his head slightly. "Guess I'll see you around, then. Sorry about your cat."

_My fan…_He stared down at the screen intensely, watching for the dot to move. It remained motionless. _She'd never let them take her alive. She'd never go to prison; she'd fight until her last breath to get back to me. She loves me. She'd never let them take her away from me, but they took her anyway._

Footsteps indicated that Dabi was leaving and Kurogiri approached the kitchen table. "Shigaraki Tomura, we need to leave."

"She's dead. My master lost…and now my fan girl's dead." Shigaraki's face went expressionless, eyes staring almost in a dead sort of way at the screen as he let any hope of seeing that dot move fade away. His fan girl was insane. She was obsessed with him; she would never let them take her to prison.

"We can attempt to collect her body later. For now, we must leave before the owner of this home returns."

**Shift P.O.V**

It was supposed to be so easy. Get into the hideout, grab the games, get out, and return to Shigaraki for her reward. She got into the building easily enough and managed to grab the goods. Unfortunately, her mind was on her reward. Fantasizing about him touching her, feeling that a tingle run through her as she imagined the delicious blend of danger and pleasure that his fingers brought.

Kugutsu was so caught up in her thoughts that when some heroes descended upon the hideout, she was taken by surprise. She was outnumbered and her twisted fan girl heart refused to allow herself to be taken alive. Which is why, once she alerted Kurogiri, she fought with every ounce of her strength to escape. She knew better than to demand that he help her; Shigaraki had to be his priority.

These were professional heroes that had come into the building with the intent to capture the League of Villains. They seemed to know what sort of quirks to expect, too. Kugutsu attacked frantically, her brain falling into an absolute panic at the thought of being captured and imprisoned. The heroes took minimal damage due to their experience; they dodged most of her attacks and one hero with a light-based quirk was on hand to combat her quirk. She, on the other hand, was quickly accumulating injuries.

In a final move of desperation, Kugutsu focused on her fear. The thought of never seeing Shigaraki again. The thought of rotting in a prison cell and not even being able to say good bye to him. She was in the second floor hallway and let her quirk run wild.

Shadows collected below her and reached out to grasp every shadow they could; gathering all of the darkness to be found in the building until it surrounded her in a dark egg-shaped shield. Kugutsu was already trembling from exerting herself, but kept her mind on her fear to fuel her strength. The heartbreaking idea of not seeing her crush, her idol, her true love.

The shadowy egg shape around her blew apart with force and flew at the heroes as massive shards, taking with them a wall of thick shadow. With them incapacitated, a few of them mortally wounded by shards piercing their chests, Kugutsu sprinted to the window in the room she and Shigaraki had slept in. She hurled herself out into the open air and struck the ground of the alley with force.

_Something's broken. Everything feels broken. I have to move. I have to get away from here before someone comes outside. But…everything hurts. _Kugutsu gritted her teeth, eyes tearing up, as she tried to push herself to stand. Pain shot through her right wrist and she bit back a cry of pain. Looking down at it made all of the remaining color drain from her face. It was most definitely broken.

"Ngh…fucking…_damn it_!" she muttered, holding it against her chest. Using only her left arm, she managed to push herself to stand. Her limbs ached, joints practically screaming at her to not move. Her vision was blurry, her thoughts a hazy mess from the combination of pain, fear, and anger running through her.

Kugutsu was limping. She was afraid to look down at her legs, but she knew that something was definitely wrong. She just could not move fast enough and her breathing was ragged. Each breath brought with it a burst of pain that nearly made her sob. There was a tickling sort of feeling, like she had to cough, but she was afraid to actually do it.

_I have to get back to him! I can't get caught! I have to get back to Shigaraki! Damn it! I dropped his stuff back there! I know! I'll call him! I'll tell him where I am and maybe Kurogiri can open a warp gate!_

She paused to rest against a wall within the dimly lit alley, wheezing and speckling the ground with dark red when she finally let herself cough. "Heh…heheheh…that's not good." Tears rolled down her cheeks and she used her left hand to try to locate her phone, her right arm tucked against her chest.

Her heart sank as she was unable to find it. "…shit…" Kugutsu ruffled her hair with one hand, sobbing and coughing up more blood. _Shit, shit, shit! Did I seriously drop my phone back there?! I can't go back for it now! Damn it!_

The girl's trembling, pain-filled legs finally buckled as she fell into a coughing fit and she slid down the wall until she was sitting. It felt like her chest was being crushed by a vice. Every movement was becoming a struggle and fatigue was setting in. Well, fatigue or blood loss.

She hit the side of her head against the wall a few times, cursing herself for being distracted. For letting herself be ambushed. For dropping her phone in the hideout. For forgetting Shigaraki's stuff. Struggling to stay awake, she exhaled raggedly and looked down at her legs. Covered in bruises and blood. Her left knee swollen and her left ankle bending at a weird angle.

_This is the end._ Kugutsu tilted her head back and felt blood running along her cheeks from the corners of her mouth. _I'm going to be grabbed and thrown in jail. Or I'm going to die. But I won't…get to see him ever again._ She sobbed again and the pain in her chest intensified. Tears mixed with the blood on her cheeks and her feline ears flattened.

"Yami?! Hang on! I'm coming!" Spinner's running footsteps approached and he fell to his knees in front of her. "No! What happened to you?! I've gotta get you help! Everyone else scattered after you warned Kurogiri about the heroes so I don't know where Shigaraki went, but I'll get you to safety, okay? Don't die!"


	48. Chapter 48

NeonHorizon: I've got like...three or four other villain stories out at the moment.

* * *

Kugutsu passed out shortly after Spinner arrived. The pain from her injuries was just too much to handle. Not to mention the panic that came with the thought of never seeing Shigaraki again.

Slowly waking up, she opened her eyes and found herself staring up at a dark night sky with no stars. Someone was cradling Kugutsu like an otaku with their favorite idol figure. She tasted blood and when she licked her lips, she winced.

"Yami! Good, you're awake." Spinner's face came into view as he leaned forward. "Try not to move. I tried calling for help, but the reception in these alleys sucks. I don't know what to do! What happened to you?!"

She took a shaky breath and winced again as pain exploded in her chest. Kugutsu's ears flattened and she gritted her teeth. _I've got to be stronger than this! I have to see Shigaraki again! My last words to him can't be so damn lame!_

"Yami? Hey! You've gotta stay calm or your wounds will start bleeding again!"

"Those heroes-!" Kugutsu wheezed and coughed, fresh blood wetting her lips. She shook her head and looked down at her injured leg and arm. Her left knee was still swollen and bruised. Her left ankle was, like her right wrist, definitely broken.

"What'd they do to you?!"

"No!" She bared bloody teeth and shook her head again. "Stupid…most of this shit…I jumped…second floor…landed wrong…like a dumbass!" Tears ran down her face, mixing with the blood.

Spinner stared down at her, confused and looking almost panicky since he had no idea what to say now. The idea of her doing something that incredibly lame was just too much for him to process. "I'm gonna try to call again. I'll try…uh…I'll try Kurogiri again!"

Right as he dug his phone out, it started ringing with an embarrassingly familiar game's theme song. He grimaced and tried to answer the call before he could make himself look any less cool in front of her. "Where are you?!"

Kugutsu tried to push herself up, getting increasingly annoyed that she was basically sitting in his lap. She put weight on her right wrist and had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming in pain. To piss her off even more, Spinner held onto her tighter and hissed for her to not move.

"Don't fucking…tell me what to do!" she snarled. Kugutstu managed to sit upright, but he refused to let her move away from him. Instead, she stayed in his lap and grumpily glared at the opposite wall of the alley they were in.

Apparently Spinner's idea of "somewhere safe" was this weird pile of boxes in an alley. It almost looked like he had tried to make a fort out of them, like a kid making a blanket fort. There was an opening between the boxes in front of them that was just big enough for her to look out. Since the entire top of the "fort" was open, it was far from secure. One good kick from an elementary school kid could make the whole thing come tumbling down.

Closing her eyes again, she listened to him talk to whoever had finally called him back. Kugutsu wondered if Shigaraki made it to safety. She wondered if Kurogiri would get him new games. She wondered if he was comfortable. Finally, she wondered if she would actually survive this.

Every time she breathed, it was like there was a knife stabbing into her chest while it was being crushed at the same time. The taste and smell of blood was really strong. She was struggling to stay awake and she was afraid that if she fell asleep again, she might never wake up.

"Yeah, we're behind this bar. Hurry up! I need to get Yami to someplace safer!" Spinner shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked down at her. "Stay awake, okay? Look at me, Yami!"

Her cat-yellow eyes opened and she stared up at the tear-blurred image of her reptilian friend. "If I don't make it…I want you to do something…"

"What? What are you saying?"

"…kick Dabi…in the crotch…and find a psychic so you can tell me what kind of squeaky bitch noises he makes…" Kugutsu smirked when he gaped at her words and she licked blood from her lips.

"Yami, now's not the time for jokes! You might be dying!"

"I know. That's why I said it." She looked down at her right wrist and saw a little bit of bone sticking through her skin. At this point, her body was gradually turning numb. She knew this should probably hurt a lot, but she was just staring at the sharp bone and wondering if she could stab someone with it.

Spinner grimaced and glanced out into the alley for a second. "Someone's coming. He's pretty close so it shouldn't take long." His frown deepened and he pulled her closer. "You're getting cold. How do you feel?"

She lifted her left hand and ruffled at her dark hair, a growl forming at the back of her throat. "I'm pissed off," she mumbled. "Look at what happened! I was supposed to grab his stuff and get back to him and I ended up like _this_!" She fell into a coughing fit and red speckled the leg of his pants when she turned her head.

"I think you've got internal bleeding or something. You're not giving off any body heat." He muttered this, as if he could somehow hide his panic from the girl lying across his lap.

They both fell silent as they sank into their own thoughts. Spinner was wondering how he could get her some medical help because he was terrified that she might have punctured a lung. Kugutsu was wondering if Kurogiri had gotten dinner for Shigaraki and what kind of food he had.

A hand reached into the opening and dragged the box at the front forward, making a bunch of other boxes topple down. Spinner moved to shield Kugutsu and glared at the intruder when he came into view. "You could've-!"

"Yeah, yeah. I could've finished her off." Dabi smirked down at the two other villains, focusing on how Kugutsu was spread across Spinner's lap and being cradled like a treasured body pillow. "Gross. She already looks pretty dead. You're sure she's still alive? You know corpses twitch sometimes when they're fresh."

**Shift P.O.V**

He lost so many important things in just a matter of hours. He lost the new member of the League, he lost his master, he lost his hideout, he lost his girl, and he lost all of his new games along with his handheld console. A normal guy would have shattered by now, but not Shigaraki.

Instead of being broken and giving up, he sat in the corner of the room and scratched at his neck until it bled. He was alone and that was exactly what he wanted. Kurogiri was getting supplies and had left him in this abandoned building by himself, secluded away from any entrances or windows so no one would find him.

He chewed at his lower lip until it felt shredded and reached up to pull the hood of his sweatshirt forward. Rummaging in his pocket, he pulled out "Father" first and secured it over his face. Next, he got his phone out and stared at the bright screen. The only light source in this otherwise dark room.

At least his master was in prison; he was still alive. Shigaraki glared at his phone screen as he pulled up Kugutsu's location. Still at the hideout. Still not moving. He knew her well enough. Kugutsu was so unconditionally devoted to him that she would never let herself be taken alive. She was dead.

_I need to get her corpse_, he decided as he chewed even harder at his lip. _She can still be loyal to me as a Nomu. We just have to be quick. Kurogiri can pick up her corpse before any of those heroes can move her._ His grip tightened on his phone, but he still only held it with four fingers. _Those heroes…touching my girl. I don't even want to think about what they'd do with her corpse._

Shigaraki leaned back a little, still half-curled into a ball as he remembered their last moments together. If he had known he would never see her again, he would have asked for more. He would have taken a last confidence boost from his girl before she died. Though the more logical thing to redo probably would have been to just not send her on that stupid errand that got her killed.

He looked toward the dark doorway across the room and imagined his fan girl coming through the door with a bag of food. Trying her best to hold a serious expression, her black hair messy and tangled from ruffling it, her ears folded back when she got embarrassed about staring at him in that creepy and longing way that she did. He started to wonder what she would look like as a Nomu. Imagining a big, black cat Nomu and deciding that he really liked that idea.

"I contacted the other members of the League to warn them that the hideout was raided. So far, everyone seems to have gone into hiding," Kurogiri informed him when he returned. "Spinner has attempted to contact me, but-"

"Her stupid little fan boy. What's he going to say when he knows she died? She didn't even care about having a fan."

Kurogiri seemed not at all surprised by this interruption, but continued as he set down a bag of supplies. "His cellphone reception was poor so I was unable to discern what he needed."

"You should tell him to go get her body. He's not a big loss. He can at least bring her corpse to me." The creepiest thing he possibly could have said while sitting in a dark corner, but he said it with absolutely no self-awareness. "I want him to bring her to me. I want her. Tell him to bring her or he's on his own."

The dark, misty villain simply stared at him for a moment. "His cellphone reception is poor so even when I have attempted to call him, the calls do not go through."

"So keep trying."

"Shigaraki Tomura, what are your intentions for Kugutsu Kurayami's corpse?" Kurogiri asked, as if he was imagining something unspeakable and was genuinely unnerved by the possibility.

_If she's dead, we can still use her. She always wanted to make me happy. She'd do whatever I wanted, no matter what it was. Even if it hurt her. She'll still do it, even if she's a Nomu. I can still keep her._

Across the room, it was pretty clear that Kurogiri could see that Shigaraki was not handling the loss well. That he was starting to sink into delirium. Even if they did recover Kugutsu's body, Kurogiri knew that Shigaraki would not be getting his fan girl back.

**Shift P.O.V**

Kugutsu had faded in and out of consciousness for a while when Spinner followed Dabi, still carrying her and not loosening his hold in the slightest. It was for the best; her maniacal fan girl heart would have made her try to run to get back to the object of her desire. When she blacked out, she dreamed of her last moments with Shigaraki and she had started to feel hopeful until she opened her eyes and realized what was happening.

There was an insanely warm back pressed against her chest. Kugutsu's arms were limply hanging forward over his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his waist from behind, her cheek pressed against the back of his shoulder. A low growl started at the back of her throat and her ears went back. "Burnable trash."

"Yami, he's keeping you warm. You were starting to get ice cold and I don't have enough body heat. His quirk-" Spinner went silent when she glared at him and continued walking beside Dabi, but silently now.

"You know, it's…pretty _gross_. Like carrying roadkill. You seriously felt like a corpse," Dabi taunted. "You think the leader's still gonna pet you when you're dead? Maybe he'll stuff you and-"

"I will fucking _kill_ you if you keep talking." Kugutsu's left hand lifted, grabbing his throat from behind as she pressed her knees into his sides. It made her swollen left knee throb, but she had to make a point or she was sure he would take advantage of how weak she was and kill her.

"Don't push yourself! You've got at least two broken bones!" Spinner tried to reason with her, but he could tell from the feral look in her eyes that she was less than thrilled to be on Dabi's back. An unwanted piggy-back ride from a charred ragdoll that she had, at some point, deemed her mortal enemy.

"Just remembering my dying wish," she growled, releasing Dabi's neck. Not that her grip had actually hurt him in any way. If anything, he seemed amused. "So…what're we doing?" She coughed onto the back of his coat, wetting the fabric with her blood. "Ugh."

"Did you just puke on me?"

"She coughed up blood," the reptilian villain explained. "She keeps coughing up blood. I think she might've punctured a lung."

Dabi's smirk could be felt through his voice when he spoke again. "Just like Stain, right? You've really got a thing for that type, huh, lizard?"

"Just help me help her! She might be bleeding to death!"

"I _am_…bleeding to death," Kugutsu corrected him. Falling limp against Dabi's back, she was disgusted by how nice his intense body heat felt against her cold skin. "Something's broken. It hurts when I breathe and…I keep hacking up blood. I'm going to bleed to death at this rate. So just remember my dying wish, okay?"

"I'm not doing that! What's your blood type? I'll donate my blood-!"

"Don't know it. I've never…been this fucked up before," she rasped.

"So we need Twice. He made a double of you before. Hey, lizard. Call Twice and tell him to meet us," Dabi spoke, irritatingly taking control of the situation.


	49. Chapter 49

Kugutsu was far from being considered sentimental. Before she met Shigaraki, the most she really felt was some extreme depression and unbridled rage after All Might had the audacity to save her life and make her keep living after her family died. So the whole concept of caring about someone other than her family was still relatively new to her.

It might have been cute that she was so worried about Shigaraki, but it was her feelings for him that got her into this situation. Breaking bones, slowly bleeding to death. All because she just had to go back into that hero-infested building to get his games for him. Not that she knew the heroes were in there when she ran in, but it was still a really stupid idea for her to go alone.

Circling back to being sentimental, though. Since Kugutsu never really felt connected to anyone, she never really dreamed about other people. Her dreams were usually a swirling torrent of darkness and the occasional fond flashback of when she had turned a bar into a messy, gory crime scene for Giran. Excitingly enough, Kugutsu's first ever pain-induced nightmare was about Shigaraki.

Courtesy of her excessive blood loss and broken wrist and ankle, the girl villain had horrific nightmares about her love touching her with all five fingers and causing her untimely demise. She watched her own body crumble away beneath his touch over and over again on a loop, each time seeing his face change from mild irritation to confusion and despair. It was absolutely heart-breaking.

When the nightmare finally ended, Kugutsu's eyes opened and she grimaced in pain. She was lying on the hard floor in a dusty, unfamiliar room, with a little bit of cushioning under her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw Spinner sitting next to her against the wall, but he was asleep.

Looking down at her body, Kugutsu bit back a hiss of disgust. Someone, she assumed it was Spinner, had made a splint for her right wrist and it was messy. Kind of bloody and uneven. Haphazardly tied in place. There was a similar one on her left ankle, which was wrapped to just under her knee. Her knee had been wrapped, too, but with a separate bandage.

Breathing still hurt a little, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been. Kugutsu felt at least a tiny bit closer to her normal self; she was no longer shivering and she felt warm enough. _Ugh. No, it's too warm. Why am I so thirsty? I need water._

She turned her head toward her friend to ask and her cat-yellow eyes narrowed. As soon as she saw that the scarf from his ridiculous Stain cosplay was missing, she knew what the cushioning under her head was. "Damn it."

Kugutsu heard a rustle off to her other side and bit back a yelp when she was pulled into a hug by someone that was sobbing hysterically. She was lifted enough that she was able to see across the otherwise empty room to a dark, open doorway. "Ngh! Let go before I-!"

"You're awake! It's post-mortem twitching! It's over!"

"Jin-san?!" She pushed away a little and stared up at the masked villain. _So they must have gotten him to make a double. Where's everyone else? _Her feline ears perked forward as she caught the sound of footsteps approaching the doorway across the room.

"You've been asleep for two days!" Twice continued freaking out, shaking her a little bit like he thought that was going to somehow help.

Kugutsu's ears flattened. "Seriously? What-?"

"Don't ask what happened. You'll trigger him and he'll start crying again," Dabi taunted as he stepped into the room.

"The joke's on you, Dabi! I never stopped crying! Hey! These are happy tears!" Twice heard Kugutsu cough and carefully leaned her against the wall next to where Spinner was still asleep.

_At least I'm not coughing up blood anymore._ She smirked and ruffled her dark hair, not bothering to look at Dabi. "Hey, Jin-san. What's that smell? It's like someone found some raw meat in their fridge that they couldn't remember buying, but they didn't want to throw it out so they thought overcooking it would make it okay, but it's still rancid so it just smells like someone's burning rotten meat. You smell that, right? It smells like it's coming from across the room."

It took him a second before the villain burst into laughter and pointed at Dabi, holding his stomach with his free hand. "She called you rotten meat! Wow! That's super gross, Yami!"

"I kept you alive…and that's how you thank me?" Dabi crouched down in front of her, smirking and reaching out a hand to rest on the top of her head. "What're you gonna do? Are you gonna _bite_ me? Come on. Show me your fangs, if you're so pissed off. Oh, right. You don't have those."

Kugutsu's anger was quickly escalating and she moved without giving any thought toward what might happen next. She tore away from his touch and snapped forward, her teeth sinking deep into his hand. It was only for a few seconds, but it was hard enough that she drew blood and it smudged on her lips.

"Back. The. Fuck. Up. You demented children's anime villain reject!"

It was finally at this point that Spinner jolted awake and quickly noticed what was going on right next to him. "Yami, you're okay! How do you feel?!" He saw the blood on her lips and his eyes widened, darting from her to Dabi. "What just happened?"

"Doesn't matter." She wiped her mouth on the back of her right hand, on reflex, and winced when she nudged her splint. "Has anyone talked to Shigaraki?"

**Shift P.O.V**

Boredom and a really irritating loneliness were all that he knew for the past two days. He had mobile games on his phone, of course, and Kurogiri managed to get a phone charger so he could play the games. It was just annoying to have to play the games by himself.

Even more irritating was when Shigaraki thought about playing the games alone. He remembered when Kugutsu would sit next to him, so close that her knee touched his, and she would play the game with him. It really pissed him off sometimes because he was sure she had to be cheating to be able to beat him, but he had started to like the company.

Of course, Kurogiri was hanging around the room. Standing there, waiting for Shigaraki to ask for something. He was still refusing to open a warp gate to get Kugutsu's corpse and by this point, he even said that her body had probably been taken by the heroes or it was starting to rot. More than likely, the heroes would have taken it for a burial.

_Stupid. That's wasteful. Why should she rot in the ground when she could still be with me?_ He scratched at his neck, harder than usual. Chewing his lower lip, he lifted his phone a bit closer and grumbled to himself.

Kurogiri had tried to contact Spinner to request that he go back for the body, but Spinner's phone had apparently died because Kurogiri was sent straight to voicemail. Everyone else made contact through Giran to say they were okay and hiding. It pissed him off even more.

_Why'd she have to get killed and everyone else is alive? She had a stronger quirk than her fan boy. It should've been him._ Every time that Shigaraki had even a tiny feeling of guilt about sending her back into the old hideout for his games, he immediately pushed the thought away and replaced it with this. _I should've made him go back for the games and made her stay with me. This is his fault._

His mobile game was rudely interrupted by a message from Dabi with an attachment. Shigaraki chewed at his chapped lower lip, debating whether he should look at it or not. He had been tricked before; he would open a message from Dabi and the image would be something disgusting or lewd. The half-charred creep's way of trying to piss him off.

Against his better judgement, he decided to open the message and his blood-colored eyes went wide. The message itself read "Look what I found in the trash" and the image was of Dabi crouched down next to Kugutsu. The girl villain was either dead or unconscious. It was difficult to tell.

Her eyes were closed, head hanging limply and skin a chalky shade. Her lips were slightly parted and they were a sickly shade of grey. It really did look like Dabi was just posing with a corpse and he seemed completely comfortable with it.

"She isn't trash. Look at you. You look like a _dumpster fire_. Why are you touching my fan girl?" he muttered, beginning to drag his nails along his neck until his fingertips came away red and shiny with blood.

"Is something wrong, Shigaraki Tomura?"

The blue-haired villain held up his phone for the dark, misty gentleman to see the image for himself. "He found her corpse. Someone else is handling her corpse like she's some kind of doll. I can't stand it. I want-"

"I believe she may still be alive," Kurogiri interrupted.

"What are you talking about?" He glared up at the other villain, already getting annoyed. She looked dead in the picture. Plus, he was one hundred percent sure that if she was alive then she would have killed Dabi before he got this close to her. As unlikely as it was, there was an undeniable rush of excitement at the possibility that she might be alive.

"If this picture was taken today, then she would have been dead for two days. If you look closely, you can see that there is still color in her face. It might be difficult to see, but-"

"I can see it without you pointing it out." Shigaraki brought the phone screen closer and he chewed at his lip. _She's still alive. Why was she in the trash?_ He looked at Kurogiri again, scowling. "You need to get her."

"Shigaraki Tomura, as a leader, it would have a greater impact on her and the League if you were the one to go to her. If you can acquire Dabi's coordinates, I can open a warp gate for you to collect Kugutsu."

Of course it just made him more irritated. Trying to get that information from Dabi was like a stupid game. The stapled, sentient trash villain kept teasing him about wanting to see Kugutsu and saying his kitty was safe. Then he started ignoring Shigaraki's messages so the blue-haired villain began spamming Dabi's phone with random jumbles of letters.

Finally, after two hours of wasting his time trying to get the coordinates, he was able to tell Kurogiri where they were. Of course, on some level, he was suspicious that Dabi might be sending him to some weird location. So, needless to say, he would make Kurogiri check before he went through the warp gate.

**Shift P.O.V**

"You look nasty," Dabi muttered, tucking his phone back into his pocket.

"You stupid…urgh! What's your problem, crispy creep?" Kugutsu glowered up at the male villain, wishing she could do more than snarl insults. It had been about an hour since she woke up and she knew that using her quirk was out of questions since she was still healing.

She had been in the middle of talking to Twice and Spinner, asking about everyone else's whereabouts since about half of the League was with her. Apparently, Dabi had aimlessly wandered around with her on his back until he found a building he thought was abandoned. It was not. Now the floor had little piles of ashes on it and the building was occupied by the villains.

He smirked and ruffled her hair a little too roughly. "What's wrong, kitty? You look like a stray someone pulled out of a dumpster."

Kugutsu released a low growl shortly followed by a shout. "Shut your whore mouth! At least I don't look like an overdone slab of meat that someone stapled together after they dropped it on the ground and it fell apart! You look like some edgy pre-teen's failed attempt at an art project! You look like a rotting decoration from a haunted house!"

Dabi's smirk stretched into a grin and he leaned down, his fingertips digging into her scalp and making her wince. "Is that…any way to say "thanks for saving me"? I carried your half-dead body here and did all the hard work."

She snarled and reached up, grabbing his wrist with her left hand and digging her nails into his skin. "Get your nasty hand off of my hair before I rip out those staples and see if it'll detach your hand! And if it does, I'll shove it-!"

"I thought you were dead. But here you are. You sound like you're having fun." The voice came from beyond Dabi, near the open doorway.

"Shigaraki?! How long have you been here?" Spinner pushed himself to stand and started toward him, but paused to look at Kugutsu. "You probably want to talk to Yami, right?"

"Awww! No fair! I want to hang out, too! Whatever! I'm over this anyway!" Twice was the first to leave the room and he was followed by Spinner, who was a little more reluctant to go.

Dabi leaned down closer, stopping with his mouth inches from her left ear. "Don't have too much fun," he taunted, snickering. He stood and turned away like the dramatic edge lord that he was, passing by Shigaraki with a smirk.

Kugutsu's ears flattened and she tried to push herself to stand up. She wanted to be able to go greet her crush properly and try to apologize for losing his games. Pain exploded in her ribs when she tried to stand and she yelped. As she pressed a hand against her side, the blue-haired villain crossed the room and fell to his knees in front of her, his arms loosely wrapping around her. "Sh-Shigaraki?"


	50. Chapter 50

"I thought you were dead."

Kugutsu winced as Shigaraki's hold on her tightened. A sharp pain erupted in her ribs and her hands lifted on reflex. Her fingers grasped the back of his shirt, her right wrist throbbing when it made contact with his back. "Careful! My ribs-!"

"I didn't know what to do. Kurogiri wouldn't go back for you and I thought you were dead. Your useless fan boy wasn't even answering his phone. I wanted him to go back for your corpse, but he wasn't answering. He's so useless," the blue-haired villain grumbled.

"I'm alive, though!" she argued, a weak blush rising to her face.

It was like he either failed to hear her or he was just too preoccupied with his own thoughts. "I wanted your corpse. I couldn't just let those heroes put you in the ground. It'd be a waste. You shouldn't go in the ground when you can still be with me. I'm not going to let them take you away from me."

Kugutsu's cat-yellow eyes widened as she felt one of his hands move up along her back. Three fingers ran through her messy black hair, making her purr. Even though he had said something so insanely unsettling. Any sane person would have been terrified to hear someone talking that way, but Kugutsu could easily sympathize with him.

He lost All for One. He lost his hideout. He lost his video games. Honestly, what Shigaraki had left was kind of unimpressive. Basically a team of aspiring villains that had somehow managed to lose track of the teenager they had stupidly put their trust in.

It was like when a person is having a bad day and things just get progressively worse. A fly falls into their coffee, they stain their favorite shirt, their irritating coworker or classmate is talking way more than usual, the toilet breaks when they flush it and suddenly everyone in the public bathroom is watching in stunned silence as they sprint out of the room in hopes of no one seeing their face all while water comes flooding out of the stall they just left. Then, to top it all off, they get fined for parking in a no parking zone and they wish they could just poof out of existence.

Kugutsu's death would have been the parking fine in that scenario. She knew that it was. "I'm alive, though. I'm fine. Ngh!" She winced when he pulled her tighter against him. _My ribs are still broken! Jin-san couldn't fix my ribs or broken bones so I have to tell Shigaraki before he makes my ribs stab into my lungs!_

"You're alive." He finally seemed to realize that something was wrong and he leaned back, staring at her through the tangled, pale blue hair falling over his eyes. "So what'd those heroes do to you? That freak said he found you in the trash."

"That...charred, raggedy, bastard! I wasn't in the trash!" Her blush intensified and her ears flattened in embarrassment. "I mean, I was near a trash can, but I wasn't in the trash! And he didn't even find me first!"

She told him everything that happened after she went into the hideout, but hesitated to tell him about her escape. _I'm going to sound like an idiot! I can't tell him that I threw myself out the window, hoping to land like All Might, and ended up landing wrong and breaking my own bones!_

Shigaraki was able to piece it together on his own after she just mentioned jumping out the window. His scarred lips twisted into a scowl and he scratched at his neck with one finger, sitting back and looking at his wounded fan. "You're supposed to have two quirks; that shadow one and the cat one. What kind of cat doesn't land on their feet?"

The girl slouched and looked away. _The same kind that just has a stump for a tail_, she thought bitterly. "I'm alive, at least."

He rested a hand on the top of her head, between her ears, and kept a finger raised. "And what kind of psycho throws themselves out a window? You're pissing me off. I thought I lost my fan girl and it turns out it was your own fault."

Kugutsu wanted to say something, but she had no idea what to say. Apologizing would just annoy him and it would make her look lame. She wanted to find some way to make him feel better because she knew he was still upset about all of the things that he had lost recently.

A frustrated sigh left him and he narrowed his sharp blood-red eyes. "We don't even have a healer. What are we supposed to do about this?"

"I'm fine. I have these splints so I can-"

"Get up." He stood on his own and glared down at her, waiting for her to obey. When she struggled to her feet, she had to bite back a scream of pain and shifted her weight to her right leg. Shigaraki stared at her broken wrist first before looking down at her left leg. He wondered if her knee might have been broken, too. Her ankle definitely was.

Fighting back tears, Kugutsu attempted to maintain a blank face. "See? I'm fine." Although it was pretty clear she was far from fine. She had her left hand pressed against her ribs and she looked like she might pass out.

"Who found you anyway?" he grumbled, taking out his phone.

Kugutsu saw him start toward the doorway and limped after him, gritting her teeth against the pain. "Spinner found me. I guess I…lost a lot of blood because I kept shivering. He asked that dumpster fire for help so _he_ carried me around until they found this place. I think Twice made a double of me again and-"

"Hey! I did more than that! I did all of the first aid stuff! And I did a great job! I was pretty sure you were gonna die!" The voice came from out in the hallway and it made Kugutsu tilt her head.

Shigaraki looked over his shoulder at her and shoved his phone back into his pocket. "This shouldn't have even happened. If we hadn't lost Bakugou, we'd still be in our new base without any problems. Where's the lazy freak that let him get away?"

The girl followed him out into the hallway where the others were waiting a few doors down. She leaned against the wall for support, wincing when she felt her ribs start to throb again. _I have to be careful. If I puncture a lung, I'm pretty sure I'm dead._

She fondly remembered a time when Giran sent her into a bar to collect payment from some unsavory gentlemen. Kugutsu had decided to immediately establish dominance and show off by collecting the shadows around her into a heavy, spiked hammer and slamming it into the side of the largest guy in the bar.

His ribs broke, sinking into his lungs. It was not a quick or pretty death. Shortly before dying, he was a gurgling, crying, snotty mess. _If I die, I want to either die from Shigaraki's quirk or I want to die while killing All Might. I won't let myself die any other way_, she thought with determination.

**Shift P.O.V**

Shigaraki weighed his options before deciding to have Twice carry her through the warp gate when it appeared. Remembering how close Dabi got to her earlier made him seethe. He still vividly recalled what Dabi had said to him just a little while before they parted ways last time.

It was enough to make him want to slam his hand into the other villain's face and watch it crumble beneath his quirk. What he did was worse than just touching Kugutsu's handheld console, like her fan boy. It was even worse than touching her ears and making her purr. Just thinking about it was making Shigaraki's pulse race as he tasted bile.

Dabi said he "had fun" with Kugutsu's double during the Vanguard Action Squad mission. This was so much worse than just touching her gaming console. It was even worse than if he had touched Shigaraki's console. He had put his dirty, half-burned, staple-riddled hands on Shigaraki's fan girl. It was unforgivable.

Still seething, he glared at the focus of his current rage and contemplated the best way to get his revenge. At the moment, Dabi was still useful. Of course, that was if you had a loose definition of the word "useful". He had a powerful quirk, but he was rude, kind of lazy, and seemed like he had his own secret agenda. Any sane person would actually consider Dabi a hindrance.

It seemed like even just hobbling down the hall after Shigaraki was too much for Kugutsu. He could see it as Twice set her down on the floor near the corner. Her body was completely limp and she looked half-dead. Grumbling for Twice to prop her up, he turned toward the other villains in the room.

Now that they were in the new base, discovered by Kurogiri, he needed to try to gather everyone again. Right now, he had over half of the collection; Kurogiri, Twice, Spinner, Dabi, and Kugutsu. All he needed now were Toga, Magne, and Compress. Not that he had any idea where they were.

"So what do we do now? She's got a lot of broken bones." Spinner was about to sit next to her on the floor, but decided against it when Shigaraki's glare was turned in his direction. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "We can't take her to a hospital."

"Maybe we should just put her out of her misery. I can take care of it." Dabi smirked when he found himself the focus of that blood-red glare. "What? You have…_zero_ sense of humor."

"All jokes aside, this is serious. Kugustu Kurayami needs medical attention," Kurogiri spoke up, doing the best he could to try to get everyone to focus and realize how dire of a situation this was.

Not to be left out, Twice decided to raise his voice like a toddler trying to demand attention. "I gave her medical attention! Does she need more? How much attention is too much attention?!"

Shigaraki stopped listening and turned his back to the others. Staring down at Kugutsu, watching her chest rise and fall to make sure she was still breathing. Even with Twice now shouting at Dabi and exclaiming less than halfway across the room, she stayed asleep. It was actually kind of impressive.

He finally looked over his shoulder and focused on Kurogiri. The shadowy, misty villain locked eyes with him and probably nodded because the next thing he did was usher everyone out of the room. Now left alone with his unconscious fan girl, Shigaraki sat against the wall next to her and scratched at his neck.

_First things first. You're all broken apart. I have to fix you. You're no use to anyone if you're broken like this. Giran probably knows someone that can fix this. I don't want to resort to __**that**__ yet._ He paused in his scratching as her head fell against his shoulder.

A glance over showed that she was still asleep, but she was now leaning on him. He saw her fingers twitch and he grumbled to himself for a moment. No one else was in the room. What he needed now more than ever was a confidence boost, but his fan was unconscious and she was in no shape for what he really wanted.

It was annoying, but he knew he would have to deal with what he had. Shigaraki reached over and put three fingertips against her palm. As soon as he did this, he saw the shadows beneath her start to weave and stretch outward ever so slightly. It brought a satisfied little grin to his face; even asleep, she was so excited by him that her quirk went out of control.

Kugutsu's fingers curled inward, her soft fingertips brushing over the back of his fingers and giving him a small flicker of satisfaction. Her messy black hair was falling over her face to hide it, but he could only imagine that she was blushing. She was his fan girl, after all. Just being around him made her happy so he was sure that this reunion made her twisted little heart race.

As much as he liked this, he started to get annoyed again. It was boring to just sit there touching her hand. He needed some form of entertainment. So he maneuvered the unconscious villain so she was leaning against his chest, sitting between his legs. Now he could hold his phone with both hands and play a game while having his fan girl close at the same time.

_When she wakes up, I'm making her play with me. I'm bored of doing this myself. She might as well. She needs to make it up to me for almost killing herself, pulling that stupid stunt._

He looked down at her and scowled. Chewing at his chapped lower lip, he reached down with one finger to push her hair away from her face. She had her head turned to the side, her cheek resting against his chest. Wearing the most relaxed, peaceful, angelic expression on her face.

It actually worried him a little. The Kugutsu that Shigaraki knew wore a bizarre variety of faces; her fan girl yandere smile when she was around him, her psychotic grin when she was fighting or talking about killing someone, and, of course, the blank expression she tried to maintain when she wanted to seem serious. Seeing her look weak, even semi-normal, was concerning.

_This is so stupid_, he thought as he went back to his game. Trying to ignore that weird, irritating thing his heart was doing. Attempting to suppress that natural feeling of fear at the thought of losing the one person that seemed to genuinely, truly, unconditionally love him. These were just annoyances that threatened to break his focus on the game on his phone.

When he got bored of the game, he switched to just using one hand to hold his phone and scroll through a gaming forum. His free arm wrapped around Kugutsu to keep her leaning against him. What really frustrated him was that this incident made him realize how important she had become. At first, she was just a weird fan girl that he thought was entertaining. Now the idea of losing her was almost too much for him to handle.


End file.
